Divergent
I assumed when I started this book that it was going to be a pretty basic Hunger Games rip off, and in a lot of ways it was. Just like in the Hunger Games there was a huge war that forever changed society and people branched off into separate and specific groups, but in Divergent these groups are based on your personality type. At age 16 you have to take a test that will tell you what faction is the best choice for you and you have to choose where you go. The Hunger Games focuses a lot on a corrupt government where as Divergent focuses on the fact that eventually even the best ideas will be flawed.
The book follows the story of Beatrice, we get our first glimpse of her on her 16th birthday. It's early in the morning and Beatrice is dressed in the grey uniform of her faction, the Abnegation. There are five factions total and each faction stands for a different belief. The Abnegation believe in pure selflessness, so everything they own is the same and they handle the politics. There are the Dauntless who believe in bravery above all else, so they are in charge of defense. The last three are the Erudite (who believe in the power of knowledge), the Candor (who value honesty in all things) and Amity (focus on peace). When Beatrice chooses to leave the Abnegation faction for the Dauntless she has to leave her home, change her name and learn what it means to be Dauntless.
"We believe that preparation eradicates cowardice, which we define as the failure to act in the midst of fear." -pg 77
But the more that Beatrice learns the more she realizes that everything isn't quite what it seems.
"Human beings as a whole cannot be good for long before the bad creeps back in and poisons us again."- pg 441 (kindle edition)
I really enjoyed this book, I recommended it to friends and even bought the second one in the series (Insurgent) before I'd even finished this one. Maybe that's what ruined it for me, my expectations were to high. As I started the second book I found myself getting bored and restless, I get it, you're teenagers, teenagers have feelings and can save the world, blah, blah, blah. I'm over it. The rebellion and government sides of things were interesting and I liked where she was going with it but it couldn't save the books for me. I don't regret reading this book, it's a great story and Veronica Roth gave us a great picture inside Beatrice's head but I don't know that I'll ever finish Insurgent. Somehow after only getting 64 pages into it I realized that I really didn't care what happened to them, which is never a good sign. So I guess what I'm really saying is, if you liked The Hunger Games trilogy you might very well like the Divergent trilogy, but don't go into it with very high expectations because it won't be able to meet them.
"We believe that preparation eradicates cowardice, which we define as the failure to act in the midst of fear." -pg 77
But the more that Beatrice learns the more she realizes that everything isn't quite what it seems.
"Human beings as a whole cannot be good for long before the bad creeps back in and poisons us again."- pg 441 (kindle edition)
I really enjoyed this book, I recommended it to friends and even bought the second one in the series (Insurgent) before I'd even finished this one. Maybe that's what ruined it for me, my expectations were to high. As I started the second book I found myself getting bored and restless, I get it, you're teenagers, teenagers have feelings and can save the world, blah, blah, blah. I'm over it. The rebellion and government sides of things were interesting and I liked where she was going with it but it couldn't save the books for me. I don't regret reading this book, it's a great story and Veronica Roth gave us a great picture inside Beatrice's head but I don't know that I'll ever finish Insurgent. Somehow after only getting 64 pages into it I realized that I really didn't care what happened to them, which is never a good sign. So I guess what I'm really saying is, if you liked The Hunger Games trilogy you might very well like the Divergent trilogy, but don't go into it with very high expectations because it won't be able to meet them.
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