Skip to main content

DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth



copyright date: May 2011
primarily marketed for: teens (14 and up)

I kept hearing hype about this book,  “If you liked The Hunger Games, you will like Divergent.”  I was skeptical.  No book can come close to the power of Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games, which I think is the perfect mix of every genre AND is well crafted. 

So, I did not have my hopes up with Divergent.  Okay, maybe I was a little hopeful. 

I was resistant at the beginning.  The voice in my head said, “This is a rip off.  This is just like when everyone started reading other vampire books because they liked Twilight.  As if the best thing about Twilight were the vampires.  Puh-lease.  This is just another post-apocalyptic novel some publisher knew would sell.”

The voice in my head can be rather harsh sometimes.

By the middle of the book the voice in my head was too focused on the characters and plot of Divergent to question anything else.  This book is filled with romance, hard-core violence (for real, this is not for squeamish readers), and suspense.

It takes place in Chicago (what’s not to like about that), so you will be able to picture places like Millennium Park and Navy Pier as you read.  That adds an extra layer of cool. 

In this post-apocalyptic world, people have divided themselves into five factions, based on what they think caused the destruction of life as we knew it: Abnegation (selfless to counteract greed), Amity (peaceful to counteract fighting), Candor (honest to counteract deceit), Dauntless (brave to counteract fear), and Erudite (intelligent to counteract ignorance).

At the age of 16, each person is allowed to choose to remain in the faction in which they have been raised, or switch to another faction.  A “test” the night before the choosing ceremony is meant to help each person decide which faction they might be best suited to join. 

Beatrice ends up making a last minute decision that will change her life and the lives of her family members forever after her test reveals she is not aligned with a single faction, but is instead “Divergent.”  Her tendency towards multiple factions is a secret she is urged to keep, although she is not sure what the danger of sharing might be. 

As the book unfolds, the unrest amongst the factions increases and Beatrice does not only end up fighting for her rank as an adult within this faction system, she ends up fighting for her life. 

The second book in this trilogy comes out in May and my copy is already in my Amazon cart. 
Labels:

Comments

  1. Linda BFebruary 13, 2012 at 8:10 PM

    I believe you Christy, & really count on your opinion, but this sounds so much like a copy of The Hunger Games. I'll keep it on my list & hopefully I can check it out from the library. Thanks for talking so truthfully about the book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Deb DayFebruary 13, 2012 at 8:26 PM

    I just got this! Haven't been able to read it yet because a student checked it out right away. Now I can't wait to get it back!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Christy Rush-LevineFebruary 13, 2012 at 8:32 PM

    I saw it in your stack! I just read The Future of Us by Asher and Mackler (also in your stack), but I imagine that was already snagged by a student too...

    I haven't read Shine, but I am guessing you suggest it? Maybe I can talk you into a guest review for this blog?

    ReplyDelete
  4. JessWizFebruary 14, 2012 at 10:59 AM

    Love, love, LOVE this book. Already have INSURGENT pre-ordered on my Nook!

    I need to buy you a copy of SHATTER ME.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TAKE WHAT YOU CAN CARRY by Kevin C. Pyle

copyright date: March 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) Despite the fact that the teacher in me sees so many lesson possibilities in Kevin C. Pyle’s graphic novel Take What You Can Carry , you should read it simply for the grace of its stories.   The artwork is as striking as the stories it tells.   Using artwork in two different colors and styles, Pyle tells the stories of two teenage boys living years and miles apart.   And yet, he communicates the universality in their experiences.   One boy is a Japanese American forced to move into an internment camp during WWII.   His family struggles to maintain their dignity and sense of peace under unbearable conditions. The other is a rebellious boy with an attitude whose reckless behavior causes him to wind up in trouble with the law.   To make amends, he finds himself completing community service hours in the most unlikely place.   I found my...
1 comment
Read more

THE SEA IN WINTER by Christine Day

  release date: January 5, 2021 primarily marketed for: Middle grades The Sea in Winter  by Christine Day is a gift to its readers. It is a book of quiet strength with much to offer.  Maisie is a ballet dancer who feels most herself when she is at the dance studio. However, at the start of this story, Maisie is coping with a serious knee injury that prevents her from dancing long-term. She misses her friends from dance and struggles to maintain those connections when she is no longer part of the dancing life they shared.  When her mom and stepdad plan a road trip to the Olympic Peninsula to visit sites of familial and cultural significance, Maisie stubbornly overworks her healing knee. She is determined to heal and return to the studio  faster than expected. Although her knee is the only focus of Maisie's wellness journey, it turns out there is more to healing than physical fitness.  Maisie is a quietly compelling character, but I was surprised to find myse...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF AIDAN S. (as told to his brother) by David Levithan

 copyright date: February 2, 2021 primarily marketed for: Middle Grades I devoured this one in a single sitting. The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother)  by David Levithan is the book I did not know I needed.  The story opens when Aidan S. has gone missing. His parents are distraught. His brother, Lucas, is beside himself. The town is pitching in to help search. As the days pass, the outcome looks more and more grim.  And then Aidan shows up in the attic, wearing the same pajamas he had on when he left, and everyone wants answers. Is he alright? Where was he? What made him disappear?  Although Aidan's story is the driving force behind this novel, it is really Lucas's story readers enter. When Aidan returns with an explanation beyond belief, Lucas is left to decide what really matters. Levithan hints at classic tales, but his perspective is uniquely fresh and inventive. Readers will be left thinking about what really makes a story true....
Post a Comment
Read more