Allegiant by Veronica RothMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved the Divergent series of books -- every single one -- and I had been eagerly awaiting the next installment. When I received my copy yesterday from Amazon (I had pre-ordered it),I jumped at the chance to read it.
The series revolves around the lives of two teenagers -- Beatrice Prior or Tris, and Tobias Eaton or Four. They live within the city of Chicago where people are divided by factions. There are officially five of them: Erudite, Amity, Candor, Abnegation, and Dauntless. Each faction has their own distinct qualities and perform a vital service to the entire city. There are people who choose to or have been forced to live outside of the factions -- the factionless. However, there are a number of residents who do not truly fit any mold. They are not affected by certain chemicals that are normally used within the city for various purposes. Those people are called the Divergent and for them there is extreme danger.
When children reach a certain age, they have a choosing ceremony wherein they can choose to stay within the faction they were born into or to move to another. To help them make their choice, there is a test wherein they get to gauge which faction they may be best suited for. For years the city has been doing well enough for all the residents.
Tris, being Divergent is not easy and she tried her best to hide the fact that she is not like everyone else. During the choosing ceremony, she chooses to join Dauntless and it is during her initiation within that faction that she meets Tobias Eaton who is one of her instructors. Together they learn that things are not what they seem and that they should do something.
Things get complicated when one faction, Erudite, decides to change things using violence. There is unrest and a lot of people die as a consequence. During the unrest, a secret is revealed -- a tape that Jeanine Matthews was trying hard to hide. When Tris finds a way to play the tape for everyone to see, it reveals a secret that changes all their lives.
Allegiant continues where Insurgent leaves off. Evelyn, Tobias mother and leader of the factionless is now in charge. Tris has been imprisoned awaiting a hearing. Evelyn insists that all factions must be destroyed and everyone should be free. However, not everyone is happy about the abolition of factions and a group of people have come together to topple Evelyn's hold on the city.
Tris and Tobias, along with their friends, manage to escape the city and go beyond it's borders. They meet the people who have been conducting the experiments on cities like theirs. They learn that the Divergent are considered genetically pure while the rest are considered genetically damaged. Tobias learns he may not be what he had always considered himself to be and the knowledge threatens to tear his relationship with Tris apart.
They also learn about more and more lies. And as the rebels within Chicago are preparing an attack on the factionless who now lead it, the scientists who have been watching them all this time have decided that they need to be "reset." The group from Chicago now need to make a choice. Will they watch as the world they knew gets destroyed or do something to help those they love.
Veronica Roth writes a very exciting sequel in Allegiant. The story is, for me, more exciting than its predecessors. I could not put it down until I finished it. And the ending is something that I never saw coming. For fans of dystopian novels, and for the fans of Veronica Roth and the Divergent series, this one is an awesome read.
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