Divergent (Divergent, #1)

by Veronica Roth

The explosive debut by No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth.

DIVERGENT – a major motion picture franchise.

The first book in the DIVERGENT series that has swept the globe – selling millions of copies world-wide.

In the world of Divergent, society is divided into five factions – Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity and Erudite. Every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice Prior, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is. Her choice shocks everyone, including herself.

During the initiation that follows, Tris and her fellow initiates undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them, Tris must determine who her friends really are – and whether she can trust the man who both threatens and protects her.

Because Tris has a deadly secret. And as growing conflict threatens to unravel their seemingly perfect society, this secret might save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the scene with the first book in the Divergent trilogy – dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences and unexpected romance.

• ISBN13: 9780008167905
• Publish Date: 31 December 2015 (first published 1 May 2011)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 21 February 2024
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Harper Fire
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 496
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[ladygrey]

This is one of those books I'm conflicted in reviewing because different elements of the book are so disparate.

Story - 4 stars. [a:Veronica Roth|4039811|Veronica Roth|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1290491550p2/4039811.jpg] starts with an interesting world in dystopian Chicago and enriches it with a society of five factions; each clearly defined and for the characters completely inescapable. The five factions, and their accompanying virtues allow for really interesting themes to emerge; for identity to be questioned and defined and make it a strong book in the young adult genre. I also like that the story expanded beyond just Tris' world and the day to day of her life into a bigger conflict within their society.

Characters - 4 stars. Tris is not a simple heroine, she's essentially good and easily a character you can root for but she doesn't always do the right thing. She can be weak or cruel or unforgiving but her struggles with those things are what make her even more interesting. Four is also fantastic; strong and mysterious and sometimes mean but usually for very good reason. And he aspires to greatness - he's always pushing himself and pushing Tris and it's fun to watch.
And the secondary characters are well developed and support the structure of the main narrative well.

Writing - 2 stars. I hate to have to say this, after enjoying everything else about this book so much, but the writing is so rudimentary it's almost painful to read. I don't know if the language was over simplified for a young adult audience or what. But this is essentially written at a third grade reading level. Maybe I became inoculated to it eventually, or maybe it actually got better as the book went on (there was one really good simile). But for the first hundred pages or so the blunted, overtly simple sentences made me cringe and made the whole thing sound stilted.

I think, like [b:I Am Number Four|7747374|I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies #1)|Pittacus Lore|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1305807140s/7747374.jpg|10576999], this would easily make a better movie than book. Because the story and action and characters are great and would be visually striking in a well produced movie.

[Amber]

The society in which this book’s set is split into five different factions. Beatrice was born into Abnegation – the selfless. The book kicks off by introducing the reader to Beatrice and her life as one of the selfless. We learn that Beatrice doesn’t like living without mirrors. She doesn’t like always putting others before herself. And so, when the day of the big Test comes, she decides that she may want to choose a different faction at the Choosing ceremony. I won’t say which one she does choose (although it’s pretty obvious), however I will tell you that I think she is crazy for doing so. But I’d have done the same thing.

We follow Beatrice as she renames herself Tris, and goes through her training as part of her initiation. She has to do some pretty awful things. At first, she’s just a weak little girl who really can’t do much compared to others in her class. But as the novel progresses the reader sees an incredible change in Tris. She becomes a strong, courageous woman – at just sixteen.

Another of the recurring characters is Four, Tris’ mentor. He is honestly one of the most complicated characters I have ever come across. His character development was outstanding – and we weren’t even reading from his point of view! Plus, he is hot stuff. That always helps us to fall in love with characters, doesn’t it?

There were so many extra characters in this book, and normally it would have been easy to get confused. But Roth pulls it off fantastically. Each character has their own traits and personality, it’s so easy to tell them apart and learn their names. There were some characters I loved, some I hated, and a lot that I felt sorry for by the end of the book!

The ending is everything I could have ever wanted. Packed full of action - people dying, people fighting – and a couple of heartbreaking scenes. A few of those scenes, actually. The ending also leads nicely onto the sequel which, believe me, you will be highly anticipating and longing for after you’ve read this book!

As for the writing style, I cannot believe that this is a debut! Veronica Roth writes as if she’s been doing this forever, and she’s only 22 years old! The woman has some serious talent, and I can’t wait to see how she uses it in the next two books in the trilogy.
Veronica Roth also recently announced that the film rights for Divergent have been sold to Summit. Yes, the studio that is responsible for The Hurt Locker. And Twilight, but I’d rather forget about that. Let’s hope that all goes well so we can see this story on the big screen!

I’ve also made my copy of Divergent available to swap. If any of you have any books/ARCs that you think I may enjoy, and you want Divergent, then please feel free to email me! I do, however, require that you’re a book blogger because I don’t want this ARC to go to waste. There aren’t enough ARCs to go around, and so I want to see this reviewed! :)

http://booksofamber.blogspot.com/2011/03/book-review-divergent-by-veronica-roth.html