Genre: YA Dystopian
Published: February 28, 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books
Series: #1 (Divergent)
Length: 487 pages
Source: bought (at Amazon)
“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.“
This book was just fantastic and a very fresh dystopian read. I love how action packed it was from beginning to end. I was expecting to finish this in 4 days, turns out I finished it earlier than I expected which was 2 days. I love Roth’s writing style; the pacing was perfect and fast-paced, it wasn’t choppy, everything was explained (except how the different factions came to existence). There are 5 different factions which are: Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). I wish we were given more background info on how these factions evolved or were they already just there? But that wouldn’t make sense because it’s a dystopian, meaning there was a world BEFORE them. Anyways, I still loved it even though it wasn’t explained.
This book starts off with our character, Beatrice, an Abnegation choosing if she should stay in her faction or transfer to a different one which where she’ll live her life forever. It is required for everyone who turns 16 to choose a faction or to stay in their faction. There are no words to describe how AWESOME that scene was (same goes to every other scenes in the book lol)! I was so tensed and there is just A BUNCH of twists coming right at you as you read. I found myself like this at times: O_O :O /.\ \O_O/
Beatrice was such a KICK *wait for it* ASS! I freaking love how fierce she is, but has a soft heart at the same time. Her character just rocks! There are no words to explain it. She’s bad-ass, witty, and realistic. I could relate to her at times with the decisions and choices that she made. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE Four’s character (a.k.a. Beatrice’s <3 interest)! Oh my goodness, what a bad ass AND a hottie, and he’s just plain cute! I love how he’s not only fearless, but like Beatrice, he also has a soft side which is super adorable. I really wish he existed in real life (sigh). The supporting characters were fantastic as well! Will, Christina, Marlene, etc. I felt like they were real people. The characters were just so realistic that I felt like I could reach out and touch them.
The romance was BOMB DOT COM. I LOVED IT! Ugh. This is the first time that I felt jealous of a freaking fictional character (a.k.a Beatrice). Like, can I be you? Can I have FOUR? The romance was just fantastic and there wasn’t any insta-love.
I HIGHLY recommend it if you’re up for some fast-paced, awesome characters, lots of plot twists, unpredictable read. I love how Roth killed some of her characters which was not cool at all, not cool. I almost cried. I wanted to cry, btw, but my stupid tears wouldn’t come out. I seriously suggest you read this book because it’s really an amazing read that will make your palms sweat, your heartbeat race, and just pure mind blowing.
