First, Here is the synopsis of Divergent for anyone who has not read it (though really it seems like everyone has) It is from the website Goodreads which is usually where I go to find out if I'll like a book that someone has recommended for me.
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, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
Now that you have a small sense of what is going on, if you did not already, here are some thoughts I had about Divergent
I had heard all kinds of hype about Divergent before reading it. I knew I wanted to read it before seeing the movie because I like knowing the things that are left out and usually the book is significantly better than the movie. I haven't seen the movie but since the movie has come out there is a lot more hype about Divergent. This makes me curious, I don't like having expectations about books before I read them because if I have really high expectations its possible to be disappointed and if I have low ones I might not read a book at all.
All of that said Divergent to me was a medium book. I told Ryan near the end of listening to the book that I really enjoyed it, and I was not ever bored but if something did not happen in the las five chapters I probably would just wait until the next movie come out to read Insurgent, the squeal, instead of immediately putting the book on hold at the library.
Don't get me wrong it has a lot of elements I like in a story, good characters, complex plots, and my favorite fairly decent imagery but I feel if I had been actually reading it would not have been like some of my favorite books where it is hard for me to put it down.
Probably like a lot of others I really enjoyed getting to know Tris. She is a strong young woman who just wants to know her place in life and is confused by the cards life has dealt her. She's a little awkward and a little insecure but what else could a 16 year old girl be? I liked how Veronica Roth wrote her and made her such an interesting character pretty much from the get go.
Over all I do recommend reading Divergent. Obviously a lot of people enjoyed it or else I don;t think it would have become a movie and after I finish the other two books I am actually reading I might even go put Insurgent on hold at the library instead of waiting until it's movie is released.
On a side note, I only have eight more weeks until we meet little brother!
