Divergent (Divergent, #1)

by Veronica Roth

[Ashley]

I have a quick and easy way of figuring out if a book is great. It’s not by analyzing the story or the characters or the pacing or the writing style. If I sit there and read and randomly burst into giggles — not because the book is funny but just because it’s so damn awesome — then I know I have my hands on something great.

Divergent is something great.

Side note: are there any other psycho gigglers out there??

Veronica Roth got everything right from the very beginning: she created a character who is different — one who stands out from her peers. Almost all of the really popular books have that key difference in the main character. In Harry Potter, Harry Potter is “the chosen one.” In Twilight, Bella has a unique mind and she has the only mind that Edward can’t read. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo has a strange resilience to the ring’s evil that almost no one else has. In The Golden Compass, Lyra has this magical and unique ability to read the alethiometer without any practice.

See what I’m getting at? People like characters who have some unique difference from everyone else around them. Beatrice (or Tris, as she becomes known as later), has this key difference. When that difference became known, that’s when I released my first insane giggle. I was like “OMG YES! I’M EXCITED NOW!” I maintained that same level of excitement throughout the entire book — it’s just that good!

I love all the characters. I read about her friend Christina and I love her cute, bubbly personality, and I think, “I’d love a friend like her!” I read about Peter and just like Tris, I hate his guts. I want to punch him, maim him, do something violent. I love the slow burning romance in the book. I just read Shiver, where there was no slow burning romance (the full on romance just suddenly existed), so this was a really nice change. This is the way romance is supposed to be! It’s something that builds over time as you get to know a person, and Veronica found that perfectly.

This is the kind of book where I finish reading and I just want more, more, more. I wish I had the second book, Insurgent, in my hands now!