Book Synopsis:
Divergent #1
Published Jan 2011 by Katherine Tegen Books
YA, Dystopia | 487
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.
Book Review: ★★★★
After a lot of hype and my friend finally pressuring me to read it by buying it for me, I finally picked up Divergent. I was really hesitant and unsure if I would like it because of said hype and because I am not a huge fan of dystopia. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. The writing was well done and I really liked the world that Roth had created with all the factions.
I felt like a lot of this book was world building, but it was done very well. We get to learn more about the factions and initiation with Tris as she is exposed to a new faction. The following action and tests were fun and interesting to read about and I liked a lot of the characters that were present. Four and Tris’s interaction was interesting to read about and I liked how they both simultaneously connected and clashed.
The big twist in the end was definitely a surprise and very fast paced. I was sitting at the edge of my seat and I couldn’t read it fast enough. I immediately bought the rest of the trilogy and I really hope to learn more about the factions because I found that the most interesting.