Four by Veronica Roth

Four (Divergent Series Story, Books 1-4) (Divergent, Books 0.1-0.4)

by Veronica Roth

Fans of the Divergent trilogy by #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth will be thrilled by Four: A Divergent Collection, a companion volume that includes four pre-Divergent stories plus three additional scenes from Divergent, all told from Tobias's point of view. This young adult novel is an excellent choice for accelerated tween readers in grades 7 to 8, especially during homeschooling. It's a fun way to keep your child entertained and engaged while not in the classroom.

This collection also makes a great pick for fans of the blockbuster movies who want to delve deeper into the character played by Theo James.

Readers first encountered Tobias as Four in Divergent. His voice is an integral part of Allegiant. Readers will find more of this charismatic character's backstory told from his own perspective in Four: A Divergent Collection. When read together, these long narrative pieces illuminate the defining moments in Tobias's life. The first three pieces in this volume--The Transfer, The Initiate, and The Son--follow Tobias's transfer from Abnegation to Dauntless, his Dauntless initiation, and the first clues that a foul plan is brewing in the leadership of two factions. The fourth story, The Traitor, runs parallel with the events of Divergent, giving readers a glimpse into the decisions of loyalty--and love--that Tobias makes in the weeks after he meets Tris Prior.

Also includes three additional scenes from Divergent, told from Tobias's point of view!

Reviewed by Nessa Luna on

4 of 5 stars

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When I found out that Veronica Roth was writing short stories from Four/Tobias' point of view, I knew I had to read those. At first, they were supposed to be released as separate ebooks, but after a while it was announced that they were going to be published together as an actual book. I pre-ordered my copy as soon as I could and a couple of days after the release date, I started reading it.

The book has four (hehe) stories told from Four's point of view, called 'The Transfer', 'The Initiate', 'The Son', and 'The Traitor'. I had read the Transfer already before I found out that it was going to become one book, and I had liked it. Though I still thought he sounded a lot like Tris. Of course, I understand that it might be hard to write a story from multiple POV's, and trying to not make them sound the same, but I don't think Veronica Roth did a very good job with it. Still, I loved reading about Four's transfer, and his initiation process.

The Traitor was basically a brief summary of Divergent, but then through Four's eyes. A bit like Hana was Delirium through Hana's eyes. I liked it, I liked reading several scenes from Divergent but through Four's eyes, I liked how he was trying to find out what was going on between Max and Jeanine and yeah, I just liked it very much! We didn't get a lot of new conversations or scenes, mostly the conversations between Tris and Four were the same ones we'd read about in Divergent, but I can't say that I was disappointed by it. I had expected it, and though I would have loved a complete new scene between the two, one that we hadn't read about in any of the books, I am happy with what we got!

As usual, the writing was very good, I just really like Roth's writing a lot! I got through the stories very easily, and eventually halfway through the book I just put it down so I wouldn't finish it in one day, because I wanted to savour it. Divergent is one of my favourite book series of all time, and this is the last book in that series, so I wanted to save the last pages. Still, I got through it very fast, and I enjoyed every minute of it. And the cover, oh wow I am in love with the covers of the Divergent series; but this one is just amazing. The ferris wheel! (Okay tiny bit disappointed that we didn't get that scene from his POV, shh).

The only thing I didn't like, was that I had thought the Free Four story would be in here as well, but it wasn't. I had read it already of course, but I was under the impression that it would be in the book as well, so I could reread it again. But alas, it was not.

Still, no harm done, and I enjoyed Four, a DIvergent Collection a lot. Now I am going to lie down in a ball and try to not think about the fact that this series is now over.

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