Dissecting The Cover:
I actually like this cover. It's simple but to the point. It gives you a sneak peek without telling you the entire 487 page story.
There's a symbol and a cityscape and that's perfect.
Let's Review:
Beatrice Prior lives in a dystopian society in Chicago which has been divided into five factions- Dauntless, Candor, Erudite, Amity and Beatrice's home faction, Abnegation.
When Beatrice turns 16 she must take a test, attend a ceremony and choose which faction she'll devote her life to.
Beatrice has never felt particularly selfless so she takes a big risk and makes a big change, choosing Dauntless instead and renaming herself Tris.
She and the rest of the initiates must survive a series of grueling tests to prove themselves worthy of the Dauntless name.
For Tris these tests are mentally and physically challenging. And as a transfer from Abnegation, it's difficult for Tris to find where she belongs in this new faction.
Add to that the fact that Tris may be different from the other initiates. And in a dangerous way. Plus the fact that she's starting to have feelings for one of her instructors, a mysterious boy named Four.
But Tris doesn't have time to worry about all of that because she soon finds that all is not what it seems. And that there may be something ugly lying beneath this seemingly perfect society.
Here's What I Think:
Prepare yourself cos it's about to get real fangirly up in here.
Got your confetti ready? Well toss it on up in the air cos I friggin' LOVED this book!!! Yeah, three-exclamation-point-love!
This is Veronica Roth's debut novel and homegirl brought it!
It would be very easy to right this off as "just another dystopian novel." But don't. Because it's so not.
This is an amazing book with compelling characters set in a captivating dystopian setting that'll have you feverishly flipping the pages until the very end. At which point you'll be longing for the chance to read Insurgent, the sequel which will be out May 1st. And then you'll be all like dammit why does May 1st have to be so far away.
Anyhoozies, yes it's true this is a book about "holy crap the world has gone to hell and we've been lied to our entire lives and dangerous secrets are being kept from us," but it's also a coming of age story. There's danger, sure, but there are also sweet parts where you realize that even though Tris is totes badass, she's also just a teenage girl trying to find herself and her place in this world. So she's part Sydney Bristow, part Angela Chase.
The Sydney part is kicking ass at initiation. But the Angela part is finding it hard to make friends because Tris has the misfortune of hailing from the seemingly most hated faction of them all, Abnegation. She eventually makes friends though. She bonds with three fellow transfer initiates Christina, Will and Al.
But Tris also makes a few enemies, initiates that are jealous of how awesomely Dauntless she is. And they're all too happy to make trouble for her, what with the constant teasing and the nearly killing her and all.
Then there's Four. Oh, Four. What can I say about Four? Four is one of Tris's instructors. He might like her. He might hate her. Maybe he's indifferent. Tris can't tell because one moment it seems like Four might kiss her and the next he's throwing knives at her head. Tres confusing, no?
So Tris is just your normal girl. Dauntless initiation is her high school. Christina, Will and Al are her besties. Peter, Drew and Molly are her bullies. And Four is her Jake Ryan.
And then things get cray cray. Nothing is as it seems. People she thought were her friends betray her. Everything she thought she knew is a lie. And it's all about to get worse.
Well, worse for Tris and her friends but better for the reader. Cos shit gets real, y'all. Veronica Roth is not afraid to kill off beloved characters. She is not afraid to point out their flaws. That's one of the things that I really liked about her writing actually. She wasn't afraid to make her characters flawed, to make them real and less than perfect. Her characters don't always do the right thing. And I'm not just talking about the baddies. She shows that good people can do bad things too. And that's life.
I think it made Divergent disturbingly real. And I think that's what makes it such a great story.
Swoony Times:
Ok, I'm gonna do something weird here and compare this book to Anna and the French Kiss. Now I'm sure all of you that have read Anna are probably thinking "Evil Eva, since when did you start obviously doing hard drugs?" Well y'all should know that I prefer hugs to drugs but regardless here's my actual point: Much like Anna and St. Clair, there isn't that much sexy business happening between Tris and Four. Instead of blatant makeout sessions and boot-knockin', it's more about the sexual tension. And holy crap on a cracker, y'all, do Tris and Four have some sexual tension! My loins were all "hold the phone. why are we so excited? this is all secret glances and little smooches." And I was all like "pipe down, loins, I'm trying to enjoy this." What I was trying to convey to my loins (and now to you, dear reader) is that sometimes it's the little things that are waaaaaaay hotter. Tris and Four prove (like Anna and St. Clair before them) that swoony times don't have to be all in yo face. Sometimes the slow swoon is the very best swoon!
Bonus Shizz:
Dystopian Societies!
Y'all, books about dystopian societies have been killing it for me lately! First there was The Hunger Games trilogy, then the awesome sauceness that is Delirium, then the super heartbreaking The Knife of Never Letting Go and NOW the totes mcgotes amazing Divergent! This whole "dystopia is the new vampire" is really rocking my socks off. And it's one book trend that I'll happily keep reading.
Kick Ass Chicks!
I always love a book with a strong female lead and Tris does not disappoint. She's small and her whole life she's been taught to defer to adults and keep her opinions to herself. So when she finally gets the chance to choose her own path, she takes it. Not only does she choose a faction other than her own, she chooses one that couldn't be more different from everything she knows. It takes a brave girl to buck the expectations placed on her in order to follow her heart and choose her own destiny. And Tris is a very brave girl indeed.
Tattoos!
Tris gets a few tattoos in Divergent in order to fit in better in her new faction. I'm not super butt-crazy in love with tattoos. I do like them though. It's kinda like having a sticker. On your body. For All Of Time! And I LOVE stickers, y'all!!! I don't have any tattoos YET but since this year I'll turn the big 3-0, I've decided to get one on my wrist. I've been thinking about this for a while and so I've picked something that's meaningful to me. I liked that Tris' tattoos meant something special to her too, that she didn't just get a rose or a butterfly just to look especially Dauntless. Not that a rose or a butterfly really strike fear in the heart of, well, anyone but you know what I mean. A rose or a butterfly are like the go-to tattoos for girls. I liked that Tris thought outside of the box but also stayed true to who she is. No offense to anyone out there that has a rose or butterfly tattoo.
If You Liked That, Try This:
Delirium by Lauren Oliver.
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.
The Scale of Judgment Says:
...... 5!
An amazing action-packed adventure with realistic characters dealing with shizz that will break your heart!
No comments:
Post a Comment