Divergent by Veronica Roth – 487 pages
Book Blurb:
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, 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 alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are–and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating 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 unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
My Review: 3.5 stars
After two years of being told to read this book and it being on the high school freshmen reading list, I finally got to it, especially due to the movie coming out soon. In reading reviews about the book, I was overwhelmed at the comparison to The Hunger Games. Yes, they’re both Dystopian YA books, but that’s where it ended for me. Let this book stand on its own merit. Beatrice/Tris is a great protagonist whose instinct, heart and head are conflicted. This is a great book to discuss with your teens. The different factions can be so easily mirrored as cliques while trust, intimidation, fear and courage are consistent themes. Love the setting in Chicago. Glad I got to it!
Quotes I liked:
Humans can’t tolerate emptiness for long.”
– “Sometimes crying or laughing are the only options left, and laughing feels better right now.”
-“Politeness is deception in pretty packaging.”
– “We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.”
– “Human reason can excuse any evil; that is why it’s so important that we don’t rely on it.”
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