"One Choice can transform you"
One book can also transform you!
Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Young adult, Dystopian World
Rating: 5 stars
Click here for my rating system...
If you LOVE falling in love, if you enjoy reading from a strong female lead that is selfless, smart, brave, kind, and strong then Divergent is for you.
I am not being compensated or swayed for this review in anyway. Well, that's a lie it is my love of books that sways me..
No copyright intended for photos, book quotes, etc.
This first book in Veronica Roth's #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent trilogy is the novel the inspired the major motion picture starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Kate Winslet. This dystopian series set in a futuristic Chicago has captured the hearts of millions of teen and adult readers.
Perfect for fans of the Hunger Games and Maze Runner series, Divergent and its sequels, Insurgent and Allegiant, are the gripping story of a dystopian world transformed by courage, self-sacrifice, and love. Fans of the Divergent movie will find the book packed with just as much emotional depth and exhilarating action as the film, all told in beautiful, rich language.
One choice can transform you. Beatrice Prior's society is divided into five factions—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Beatrice must choose between staying with her Abnegation family and transferring factions. Her choice will shock her community and herself. But the newly christened Tris also has a secret, one she's determined to keep hidden, because in this world, what makes you different makes you dangerous.
Spoiler alert past this point, you have been warned!
"I hear a train horn, so faint it cold easily be wind whistling through an alleyway. But I know it when I hear it. It sounds like the Dauntless, calling me to them." - Divergent
They called to me also and I was hooked on this book and being Divergent, myself. Roth does a great job with visuals, I could visualize everything she was illustrating to us through Tris and that kept me very interested. I couldn't wait to see more through this interesting characters eyes. She is the type of character that doesn't see herself fully, but not in an annoying way as some female characters seem to do. Even though she lives in a completely different world she relateable and I feel myself putting myself into her shoes and going through the book as if I am her. It is truly the best way to get lost in a book and Roth makes it easy.
"I look at the hole again. Goose bumps rise on my pale arms, and my stomach lurches. If I don't do it now, I won't be able to do it at all. I swallow hard. I don't think. I just bend my knees and jump." -Divergent
Then I am falling with Beatrice as she becomes Tris, I feel my heart pound with hers and my body tense as she falls/we fall. As I fall in love with the book before I even meet Four...
"He has a spare upper lip and a full lower lip. His eyes are so deep-set that his eyelashes touch the skin under his eyebrows, and they are dark blue, and dreaming, sleeping, waiting color.....
His voice is deep and rumbles. "What's your name?"
"Um..." I don't know why I hesitate. But "Beatrice" just doesn't sound right anymore.
"Think about it," he says a faint smile curling his lips...."
Four, he's dark, he's mysterious, and he is strong, but it doesn't take long to realize he is brave, and selfless, and smart, and kind, and honest. One thing I love about a book is not only falling in love with the characters, but falling in love with love. Tris and Four's relationship was realistic to me for the world they lived in and it was fate that they would be together.
"But there is something wonderful about Dauntless chaos." -Divergent
Wonderful indeed! I have no doubt if I lived in this society that I would have choose Dauntless as well, I would want nothing to more than to be fearless and brave.
"Were you a transfer too?" -Tris
"I thought I would only have trouble with the Candor asking too many questions." he(Four) says coldly. "Now I've got Stiffs, too?"
"It must be because you're so approachable," I(Tris) say flatly. "You know. Like a bed of nails."
He stares at me, and I don't look away. He isn't a dog, but the rules apply. Looking away is submissive. Looking him in the eye is a challenge. It's my choice.
Heat rushes into my cheeks. What will happen when this tension breaks?
But he just says, "Careful, Tris."....."
Oh witty Tris, it seems everything comes down to a choice.
It isn't just her relationship with Four, it is her relationship with the other initiatives: Christina, Al, Will, Uriah...
I turn to Christina. She raises both eyebrows.
"What?" I ask.
"I'm developing a theory."
"And it is?"
She picks up her hamburger, grins, and says, "That you have a death wish."
There is so many things that builds on Tris' character that would take a book for me to describe, but it is her bravery, intelligence, and her selflessness that gets me. From standing in front of the target taking Al's place to handing the gun to Four because she couldn't bare the thought of shooting him. Tris is a character that I defiantly respect.
"Ready, set, g-"
Before he can finish the word "go", he releases the sling and I forget him, I forget Uriah, and family, and all the things that could malfunction and lead to my death. I hear metal sliding against metal and feel wind so intense it forces tears into my eyes as I hurtle toward the ground.
I feel like I am without substance, without weight.....
Held secure by the straps, I throw my arms out to the side and imagine that I am flying. I plunge toward the street..."
Everything that Tris feels, Roth makes me feel right along with her and I love every minute of it. The Dauntless are corrupt and towards the end of the book they take things to a whole different level, things change in a way that they can never be fixed. The adrenaline is on a different level, it is the definition of life or death. Unfortunately, lots of death for the main character, Tris gains and loses so much in such a short amount of time I am left wondering how she will hold herself together, but then there is Four...
"I have something to tell you," he(Four) says.
"I might be in love with you." He smiles a little. "I'm waiting until I'm sure to tell you, though."
"That's sensible of you," I say, smiling too. "We should find some paper so you can make a list or a chart or something."
I feel his laughter against my side, his nose sliding along my jaw, his lips pressing behind my ear.
"Maybe I'm already sure," he says, "and I just don't want to frighten you."
I laugh a little. "Then you should know better."
"Fine," he says. "Then I love you."...."
"We are creatures of loss; we have left everything behind. I have no home, no path, and no certainty. I am no longer Tris, the selfless, or Tris, the brave.
I suppose that now, I must become more than either......."
