Divergent

Hey ladies and gents you're back; with yours truly.


Divergent is what many people consider to be Hunger Games' sister series. It has many of the same elements, albeit different writers. But you wouldn't be here to read on the intricate comparisons between the two, you're here for my opinion, so sit down, savvy?

SPOILERS ALERT

Yes yes yada yada.

So, Divergent takes place in a 'utopia' community. It doesn't seem clear as to exactly what its environment is...is it one big city? A city and some land? I'm not sure.

Our main protagonist, Beatrice, is part of one of five factions that make up this society, those being Abnegation (whose members are selfless), Amity (wuv), Candor (truth), Dauntless (courage), and Erudite (knowledge).

Beatrice is in the faction known as Abnegation. She lives a spartan lifestyle until she turns sixteen; the age when every child is forced to choose between the factions. Will they stay with their family in the faction they grew up in, or leave to join another?
Every candidate is put through a simulation that forces them to make decisions, much like an aptitude test. Their responses to certain choices determine which factions they should most likely be in, and they then choose between those.
Beatrice takes the simulation, but a disturbing realization is found when she responds abnormally to the dilemmas presented; she's Divergent. Apparently being Divergen - oh, sorry, shouldn't speak that name out loud. It's dangerous, you see.

She ends up picking Dauntless, because...why not. The initiation process takes a while, during which she faces certain challenges and competes with other initiates to stay in the running. If you don't make the cut, you are thrown out to be factionless, and do dirty work like scrubbing the john.
In the end she does make the cut, and along the way falls in love with a mysterious instructor named Four. Must...resist...urge...(yes, I'll get to this guy later).
Anyway, she and Four uncover a plot by the Erudite to take over the government, which is primarily Abnegation (selfless, perfect for govt.). They plan to use the Dauntless to stage a coup.
In the end, they kill a bunch of people, a bunch of people die, and it all ends with them on a train kissing.

Must resist urge to make ASDF joke...

END MAJOR SPOILERS: MINOR SPOILERS ALERT

Alrighty. How was it overall?

Well, admittedly, I liked it. It wasn't as gripping as, say, the Beyonders series was, but I liked it nonetheless.
However.
There are a few problems.

Number one. This is more of a personal preference, but I really, really hate the viewpoint of this book, and the Hunger Games. First person present? Ugh. It's awkward. Perhaps that's simply because I'm not used to it, and I do admire Suzanne Collins and Veronica Roth for attempting to use this style, but it's just distasteful. It also feels like the book is screaming "HEY! I'M REAL BECAUSE YOU'RE RIGHT HERE WATCHING, YOU GHOSTLY MIND INVADER!" The past tense tends to feel better for communicating legitimacy, because it has the tone of "I'm real and historical, because I've already happened."

Secondly, Four. You guys have no idea how hard it is not to resort to French while describing this character. Really, Veronica Ruth? Oh yes, the boyfriend of your dreams should be silent, tragic, mysterious as the dark side of the moon, and not tell you anything until after a couple weeks! Yes, he's cool, but he's an overused cool. He reminds me of Gale, or Edward. A little better, but please, this archetype is just cool to the point of annoying. Because real-life people are not that cool.
Yes, I'm nitpicking. "Books aren't real life!" No, but they are meant to communicate a sense of reality. If you present unrealistic relationships like this, it lends to the unrealistic tone of your story. Again, though, it's fantasy. Ugh.

Last but not least, the appendixes. The book I read had all sorts of Q&A with the writer in the back, stuff about the factions, yada yada. In the acknowledgements she straight up says "Thank you, God, for your Son and for blessing me beyond comprehension." First sentence.
Oookay...I'm glad she professed Christianity, but the entire rest of the appendixes is a discussion and description of human psychology, which is not Biblical. And there is almost no reference to God or the Bible after that. I'm not one to call someone else's testimony, but she doesn't seem to be doing a great job at being a light...

END SPOILERS

Overall, how was it?

Pretty good. The dialogue was funny, witty, and flowed well. The characters...eh, I didn't really care for most of them. They could have been better developed. The plot was well done, though perhaps a little stilted at times.

And I could have done without the love story. The sopping love story. Oh please. No more. My eyes. They hurt. Ouch.