Insurgent (Divergent, #2)

by Veronica Roth

[inlibrisveritas]

Insurgent brings a bag of mixed feelings with it, though they are mostly positive. The story picks up right where Divergent leaves off and it kind of left me scrambling to remember what had happened, but it didn’t take long and before I knew it I was back in the faction-ed world of Tris Prior. Divergent was absolutely fantastic and I loved it…this one didn’t really live up to that and even though I’m giving it 4 stars it was a slight disappointment. I will say that it is probably mostly my fault, I had high expectations of it and so it’s not really surprising that it didn’t meet them but I still felt let down.

Insurgent is a slower paced book and at a staggering 525 pages I certainly felt it, however while it doesn’t have as much kick butt action in it, it does have a lot of psychological detail. This is a more in depth and deliberate book than Divergent and by the end of it I had no trouble figuring out people’s thought processes. The factions are in turmoil and lines that have been clearly drawn are turning into caverns between them. This is the part I liked more than Divergent, I loved that you get to see how people who react to suddenly being thrown into a situation where they have to rely on those they consider different. It’s an ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ mentality to some of the factions and it causes some serious strain. Tris has a lot to deal with and I’m still amazed at her ability to hold it together when she needs to, even though it’s clearly hard for her to do so. The inclusion of Marcus in this story helps give some more back story on Four and some added tension. Another huge plus is seeing the other factions like Amity, Candor and Erudite in their true forms.

One of the down points for me was my disenchantment with Four (Tobias). He was so awesome in the first book, he had his flaws but I enjoyed who he was. Not so much now…I found myself wishing Tris would just leave him to sulk somewhere and get her act together. I understand why he is the way he is in this book and he’s fully justified, so it’s more of a personal turn off than anything else. I do like that their relationship is not all rainbows and posies, and they do have communication and trust issues. It gives them more depth, but at the same time I was practically yelling at them to shelve the theatrics because they had more important issues at hand. Of course Tris’ other relationships are also a bit strained because of the sudden crumble in society and I liked seeing her navigate those as well.

There are certainly enough twists and turns in this one and I found myself having to stop and let it absorb before moving on. Roth certainly took on a lot with Insurgent and it’s definitely worth the time, and dispite my issues with it I still really enjoyed it. The ending is one that still has me scratching my head a bit and I’m bummed out that I have to wait for the next one.