Divergent (Veronica Roth)

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Katherine Tegen Books
501 pages
Kindle edition

She turns to the future in a world that’s falling apart. For sixteen-year-old Tris, the world changes in a heartbeat when she is forced to make a terrible choice. Turning her back on her family, Tris ventures out, alone, determined to find out where she truly belongs. Shocked by the brutality of her new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her. The hardest choices may yet lie ahead… A debut novel that will leave you breathless.

I’ve picked up this book around July last year at the recommendation of my friend, S. So I got it from Kindle and started reading—only to drop it and forget to pick it up again. As I’ve recently mentioned, real life kicked me in the arse, and this is one of the reasons I couldn’t get back to it. And it doesn’t have to reflect how good or bad a book was; It was all me.

Fast forward to this past weekend, and I finally made the time and picked it up again. And since the movie was just released, it was a good time as any. I reread it from start to finish within a day and I honestly don’t know why I didn’t pick it up again sooner.

It had an interesting premise with the population divided into factions, and when the children get to a certain age choose their own. The flow of the story from revelation of her divergent status, her choice, and her initiation, and up to where it all comes together, was actually quite engrossing. I wanted to know how all her choices turned out and I just had to turn the page.

I’m not a Four fan though. I understand how people would like him, strong and gentle and good-looking. But the way he acted around Tris was confusing, which may have been the point, but I grew tired of the constant ‘mood swings’. He may have had his reasons, but those don’t justify his actions for me. And one of Tris’ fears in the fear landscape—sexual intimacy with Four—and then doing it immediately afterwards? It wasn’t believable enough. There should have been awkwardness at least, but it wasn’t present. ((Or maybe I was too annoyed at how it was played out, even if it was present, it still shouldn’t have happened immediately.))

Despite its flaws, it was an engrossing read and I wouldn’t mind reading the rest of the series to see how everything plays out. ((And I’m trying to avoid reading spoilers for the next two books and watching the movie.))

Rating: [rating=7] 7 of 10 stars [?]