Review – Divergent

Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publish Date: May 3, 2011

ISBN-10: 0062024035

Available at: Amazon – Barnes and Noble

Summary: 

Beatrice Prior must choose among five factions: Candor (the honest); Abregation (the selfless); Dauntless (the brave); Amity (the peaceful); and Erudite (the intelligent. Her choice is made the more difficult when she finds her aptitude test scores show that she doesn’t fit in any of the groups.  Her decision will also either keep her with her family or tear her away from them forever.

Review:

This book was fantastic. It was fraught with just the right amount of tension. From the romance to the trials and tribulations Beatrice goes through, it was a wild ride.

Beatrice, who takes on the name Tris, makes a difficult choice. At the age of 16 she shows a maturity beyond her years. Yet at the same time Roth manages to show that she’s still a vulnerable youth in those instances where it matters most.

Each character flew off the page and into my heart. From Tris to Four to Al, they all found a way to come to life. Even the minor characters had a vivacity to them that you don’t find in most books.

While this is a character driven novel, you can still feel the grunge of the city that they live in. From the racing trains to the dilapidated building, the world they lived in was alive.

The plot twists kept me surprised and on my toes each and every step of the way. Nothing was quite predictable except maybe the romance. Even that managed to surprise me now and then. While the characters were unique and unlike any I’ve come across, the plot was also quite very different from the norm.

I applaud Roth’s debut novel. It was a show stopper.

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