Today’s post is on a series that is getting a lot of
publicity and praise lately, The Divergent Trilogy which is written by Veronica
Roth. I finished this series a couple of weeks ago with hardly any breaks and
so I just read the story of each book back to back.
If you don’t know about this series, it’s pretty much a
dystopian novel based in the future of Chicago, where the city is divided into
4 sections or “Factions” as they call them. The story is told from the perspective
of a young girl named Beatrice “Tris” Prior and recalls her journey as she
decides the fate of her future and who she wants to be.
I found this series as an exciting read as the events
started to unfold from book to book.
Let’s start with the first book “Divergent”. I was
recommended to read this book after a work friend had read it and found it
interesting and thought I would enjoy it. I had seen the book constantly at
work but never thought to pick it up. My friend lent me her copy and to my
surprise I did enjoy it. As I read Divergent I found myself interested in the
concept of the factions and began to think to myself how the explanation of its
creation seemed to make sense like it could possible happen. As I continued to
read the book I became more and more captivated by the story and the writing.
It didn’t take me long to finish the book and I was eager to read the next one to
continue on with the story. Out of the 3 books, I enjoyed this one the most as
the majority of the book is learning about each faction and their structures. I
found all of this really fascinating and it made me start wondering what it
would be like to live in that world. The only real negative I have is that I found
the events that occurred in the ending to be a bit random as I did not feel any
build up towards it which made me feel a little uncomfortable with where the
story was headed. Even now as I read back over it I find myself thinking how
rushed it makes the book feel that there is just this huge plot twist towards
the end. Throughout the book there are tiny hints every now and again but I just
didn’t see it coming. Although as I read the next book I found that the end
ended up flowing nicely to make way for the next book.
The next book is “Insurgent”. Like the first book, I did
enjoy this one but not as much as “Divergent” as I found myself struggling to
follow the story at some points. I felt it had a very strong start as it starts
to recall the events that occur after the ending of “Divergent” which includes
a couple of twists here and there which I felt myself enjoying as it kept me
from just abandoning the book when I felt frustrated with the story. I feel
that this book is the most action packed one out of the 3 books as it really is
the core of the series as most of the fatal events happen in this one. I don’t
want to give anything away in case you haven’t read it yet but I will say that
a lot of different things occurred that I found even myself having difficulty
keeping up with it all. I loved the relationships between the characters, the
most in this book. You start to really see the personality of each person and
how they connect to each other even those who are seen as enemies which I really
enjoyed. I have a few mixed emotions about this one, as I’m not too sure how I felt
after reading it. I did like the way it ended as it makes you really want to read the
next one but again I found myself feeling uncomfortable with
turn of events as I still felt that some of the plot lines were rushed and
there was no real build up towards them.
The final book is “Allegiant”, the final phase of the
series. I’ll be straight about this one, out of the 3 books this is the one I liked
the least. Don’t get me wrong the ideas and concepts for the story were great
but for the majority of the book, I found myself thinking “Wow that was quick”
or “That seemed way too simple and easy”. Events in this book were just way too rushed
and so I had a much harder time reading it as it just felt like the story had
no direction. There were some highlights
that kept me reading such as the strengthening of each character’s
relationships with one another but I just couldn't make myself enjoy the book
as a whole. Another thing I had trouble with was the structure of the book as
each chapter rotated its perspective between Tris and Four. This made me
continually get confused about who I’m reading about. I kept finding myself re
reading pages as I would forget whose view I was reading from. I did like the
idea that I could finally see the world through Four’s eyes but it was just too
difficult to keep track of. There isn't much I can say without giving anything away but I will say this, that Veronica Roth made some good choices for the story
and for its ending. Trust me, you will
not see what is coming in the last couple of chapters, which kind of makes up
for the struggle I had reading this book.
Overall, I do recommend this series as I enjoyed it as a
whole despite all the negatives I have stated and honestly, I would read it
again. I love dystopian themes and I love having a glimpse into a possible
future. If I’m not mistaken, I believe this is Veronica Roth’s first work and
so I congratulate her on her fantastic work.
I know this series is highly recommended and reviewed at the
moment but I thought why not I give my own review on it since I just finished
it. I am really looking forward to the upcoming release of the movie of the
first book “Divergent” which has already been released around the world but has
yet to be in cinemas in Australia. I am also looking forward to the release of
the book “Four” which is little novellas of events in the series from the
perspective of Four. Each novella is available as an eBook but the book will be
released later on this year which is very exciting.
Hope you enjoyed my review and I have another post for you
very soon J
Keep Reading J
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