Double Review: Divergent & Insurgent (By: Veronica Roth)

Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books/HarperCollins

Rating: 5/5 stars

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, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Veronica Roth is the New York Times bestselling author of Divergent, the first in a trilogy of dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

Title: Insurgent

Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books/HarperCollins

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

*****

I've had Divergent in my possession since it first came out. Christie read it and LOVED it! I'm pretty sure she bought it for everyone she knows for birthday's, Christmas presents etc just so she could share this Dystopian universe with the rest of us. Thank goodness that she did! It may have taken me awhile to read it, but that has no bearing on the story or my inability to actually start or finish the book. I simply didn't have time...

In Divergent, Veronica Roth has introduces us to Chicago during a time when the world has changed drastically: society lives in this kind of bubble, divided into factions. How you do on your test results is the faction that best suits you. For Tris, finding her faction does not come easy and it is a continuous struggle for her not only in Divergent but as her story continues in Insurgent.

Along the way, as Tris struggles with her identity she is faced with both friends and foes as heroines usually are. We meet many people along the way and Veronica Roth never gives away what kind of people they will be. Can Tris trust them? Will they become allies or adversaries? Trying to find who you are is always a difficult battle. Where do you belong? Where do you best fit in? In this Dystopian world, to be different – not fitting into one of the factions – is a crime. It becomes extremely important to Tris on who she can or cannot trust. Cue Four! I’m not even sure how this world would function without him. I would be extremely sad if his existence was not present. He brings a different dynamic to the books. His strength and determination are admirable. Not too mention he is completely swoon worthy, ladies! 

These books bring forth the reality that trying to create the perfect society where everyone fits in within their respective faction is unrealistic. There will always be people that excel in having multiple ways of thinking in their heads. To ask people to repress their need to learn, to fight, to care, to be selfless, and to be honest is in a way creating robots. Divergent and Insurgent break down those boundaries drawn within this Dystopian world through Tris and the people around her that are not willing to conform to one specific way of thinking. 

I cannot wait to see what happens next as Tris and the rest of the characters continue their adventure into the unknown. Veronica Roth has created a world in which the reader is grabbed by their collar and pulled through the pages into a Chicago unlike the one we know today. This world offers readers love, betrayal, sacrifice and above all the quest to find ones’ own identity in a world where your identity is forced upon you, no matter how different you may be. I highly recommend you pick up these books and find your world turned upside down as you enter Dystopian Chicago. Travel side by side with Tris as she tries to find herself in the midst of chaos and destruction. You won’t regret this literary adventure! 

-Ashley