Book Review: Divergent

Divergent (Divergent #1)
by Veronica Roth
495 Pages - Hardcover
Published May 3rd 2011 by Katherine Tegen Books
Challenge: Dystopia Reading Challenge
Source: Bought

Summary:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

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

Review:

Divergent has got to be one of the most anticipated dystopian novels of the year. After The Hunger Games, this had been the only dystopian that was said to follow the success of the trilogy (that I heard of). And as a ginormous fan of THG, naturally, I was compelled to read this.

So, do I think that Divergent is the next Hunger Games? No.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I didn't like Divergent. I actually liked it. I just had super high hopes for this one and so I was slightly disappointed that it did not live up to my expectations.

First off, despite this book's lengthy page, it was surprisingly a very quick read. The pace was a bit slow but with the many interesting events that happened all throughout the story, one wouldn't complain about the pace - you might not even notice it! I feel neutral about Tris and Four. They are both tough and intriguing characters but their characters didn't leave a strong impact to me. Divergent also has one epic premise, I give Roth that. I liked reading about the five factions. It was hard to choose a favorite among them. Each serves a purpose to the society but they are not without flaws. It wouldn't take a genius to predict that sooner or later, problems among each will arise.

I think this also lacked suspense. The plot had little complexity and was quite predictable, especially on the falling action part. I thought it was very cliched. But despite that, Roth did a really good job with this book. Even though I had a hunch on what was going to happen next, it didn't stop me from holding my breath and turning the pages one after the other.

I did enjoy reading Divergent but I think one of the reasons I didn't like this that much is because I kept comparing it to THG - and that was where I went wrong. Enjoy it as it is. Divergent is really good without it being compared to any book!

Rating: 3.5/5 stars