Divergent

My latest book is Divergent by Veronica Roth.

(Spoilers!)

This is the book about Beatrice (Tris) Prior and begins with her "Choosing Ceremony". Tris lives sometime way in the future where society has broken down - and as a result society has broken into 5 "factions". Each faction believes one bad personality trait is the reason for all the problems in the world. They split into factions where they focus on what virtue they believe is the most important - some value honesty, some selflessness, some knowledge - and so forth.

When children hit 16 - they go through an aptitude test which tells them which faction they are most likely compatible with. They they can choose from any of the five factions - they do not have to choose which one the test told them.

Tris is from Abnegation, the faction that values selflessness. Everyone is equal, there are no mirrors, no crazy clothes, no jewelry. They all wear their hair the same way - and remind me of the Amish when they are described. Tris never really fits in there- she has a hard time fitting in there. During Tris's aptitude test- something strange happens.  Her test results are inconclusive. She is not a perfect fit for any faction. The person administering the test erases her results - manually imputing results. She tells Tris she is "Divergent" and she should never, ever tell anyone. It's dangerous. Tris does not understand this - but abides.

At the choosing ceremony - Tris chooses the faction Dauntless. The Dauntless value bravery. Tris is put through initiation, where she learns how to fight and shoot. She learns how to conquer fear - and she begins to have feelings for the mysterious instructor, Four. During training - she begins to feel like the Dauntless are more violent and barbaric than brave and others feel the same. Due to her divergent status - Tris excels at some of the tests - and ends up being first in her class. The leaders of Dauntless say that due to new tensions between factions they have to begin tracking all of their constituents. They are implanted with tracking chips - which end up being some sort of mind control chip.

One of the other factions - Erudite - has teamed up with Dauntless to overthrow Abnegation- who run the government. The reason being divergent is dangerous is because the mind control does not work. Tris and her now boyfriend - another former Abnegation - are shocked as those around them begin killing. There is a lot of action at the end - which I will not spoil - and basically - the ones who survive Abnegation and Dauntless are now refugees who are in danger...dum dum dummmmmm.

This was a fun read. I have been reading a lot of YA dystopian fantasy lately. I enjoyed this more than my latest reads - like Uglies, The Lost Hero and the book I am working on now, Delirium. This felt more like The Hunger Games to me. It's dark, it's exciting. I feel like if you are going to write a dystopian novel - you should just go for it. Roth does. She makes bold choices- including an attempted murder/sexual assault. Boom.

I also was very pleased reading about the beginning of the relationship between Four (Tobias) and Tris. It took me back to when I was younger - and the confusion, the electricity - the does he or doesn't he? There were even a couple scenes that were bordering on hot - straddling Four in a train with doors open and hands all over. Whoo! I had to remind myself that I was reading about teenagers, and then I felt a little dirty.

The only problem I really had with this book isn't even the books fault. I have been reading so much of this genre lately that they are all starting to sound alike. There is always a ceremony around the 16th birthday, then there is personal angst and standing up against the man, then there is a love interest, then it ends with a huge looming problem.  Divergent does it REALLY well - one of the best I have read so far - but its still familiar.

I don't really care though - I will still read Insurgent before I read any of the other sequels.