Rose Reviews......Divergent

 

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Dystopian YA
Published: May 2011 (Harper Teen)
Rating: A+ I highly recommend this book and can't wait for the sequel

As some of you may know I am a massive fan of the Hunger Games series. Therefore when I saw rave reviews on youtube about a Dystopian novel called Divergent I went straight onto Amazon and ordered a copy. Now despite wallowing in the fact I had made yet another impulse purchase buying Divergent was one of my best book buys in the last year.

Divergent is based in a Dystopian version of Chicago where the inhabitants of the city are split in to five factions based on their strongest character trait. All citizens are born into a faction and at the age of 16 have the chance to either choose to remain in that faction forever or switch factions leaving their family behind forever.

The book begins as the main character Tris is about to sit her aptitude test the day before the Choosing ceremony. The aptitude test is a mental simulation which indicates to the subject which faction they would be best suited for.

The factions are as follows-
Dauntless- The Brave
Abnegation- The Selfless
Amity- The Peaceful
Candor- The Honest
Erudite- The Intelligent

The principles of these factions are taken to extremes in this book with the Erudite spending all day studying and the Dauntless jumping from moving trains.

The main section of this book focuses on Tris's initiation which is a process the initiates go through after choosing their faction. If you survive initiation you become a member of the faction and if not you become factionless and therefore an outcast from society.

Roth's development of Tris's character throughout the book is incredible and hints begin to develop about the possible future of the trilogy. For example what is the rest of the world like? In the book there is a wall surrounding the city, no-one enters and no-one leaves so what happened to the rest of the world?

I read Divergent in less than a day and cannot wait for the much anticipated release of the next book in the trilogy Insurgent (due for release in early May). This book is a must for fans of the Dystopian genre and Roth  has created a detailed and unique dystopian world.

So which faction would you be??

Rose xx