Divergent: A Review

Hey strangers! Again, it's been too long, but! I have a great book for you all to check out.

If you can recall, I became quite a fan of Suzanne Collin's Hunger Games series. After finishing Mockingjay, I was devastated. Here, I had found this fantastic series, and then bam! - it's over. What will I read now?

Cue Veronica Roth, sweeping in to save the day! I can't say I just happened upon this book, that would be a straight-up lie. I consulted Goodreads.com (a new favorite website of mine) and the majority of people who read The Hunger Games raved about how great of a read it was, so I had to check it out.

As I say with all of my reviews: there will be a few spoilers below this line. Read with caution!

Art by Nightlock.tumbler.com

The protagonist of the story is Beatrice, a girl of sixteen. In this Dystopia, there are five different factions. While they are physically different places, they are more about different ways of life. It was decided that the main cause of war and conflict was conflicting virtues. Therefore, each faction is split up according to what virtue the people who live there honor the most. Abnegations, where our hero is born and raised, value selflessness and simplicity, Candors value honesty, Erudites value knowlege, Amity values friendliness and love for everyone, and finally the Dauntless, who value bravery.

Abnegation symbol

In order to help each person figure out which faction they belong in, they must take an aptitude test around age 16/17. They are given a serum that puts them to sleep and runs a simulation of events in their minds. In these simulations, it is recorded how they interact and react to any of 5 situations. After the simulation is over, it is suppose to have ruled out all but one faction for each person.

This is where we find out Beatrice is different.

Instead of one, she has three factions for options. The result of this can mean only one thing: she is one of the revered and feared Divergent. While she doesn't know what this means, her test results are scrambled and she is told to tell no one. When it comes time to choose, her heart overrules her head, and she transfers to Dauntless.

She finds it both exhilarating and frightening at Dauntless headquarters, but works hard against how she was raised to make herself known in the community as a force to be reckoned with. Impressive, I must say, for a tiny 16 year old girl.

But at this time in history, politics are proving to be more of a factor in survival than anything else, and she must keep her wits about her to avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention. With the help of her handsome instructor, Four, she learns to shoot a gun, throw a knife, win a fist-fight, and keep her new-found Divergent abilities under the radar.

Love, tragedy, betrayal and war...when push comes to shove, what does she stand for? Pick up Divergent and I promise, you won't regret it! I give it five stars.