Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent (ARC)
Written by: Veronica Roth
Series: Book 1
Published: Out on the 3rd May 2011 by Harper Collins


Synopsis from goodread:
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, 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 to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating 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 a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.


My Review:
AMAZING! This book kept me up all night trying to figure out where it was going to go. I found myself saying ‘ok just this last chapter and I’ll go to bed’ but after every single chapter I couldn’t bring myself to put it down! I lost countless hours of sleep to this book, but every single one was worth it. This book comes with a huge recommendation from me, but also a warning to younger readers. This book contains a lot of violence, not for the faint hearted, but the author hasn’t just written it in for violence sake, every act was done for a reason which I loved about this book.


Veronica Roth has created a spectacular dystopian world that I could not get enough of; its beautifully written and exceptionally well thought out. The whole idea of the Factions and the names of each one is pure genius. I love how I actually chose my own Faction before the book really got started, I’m sure I’m not the only one who has done this. Each and every one of them fascinated me beyond belief and I found myself actually searching the words to find their actual meaning, giving the Factions even more depth.


Roth’s writing is extremely descriptive and flows so well that the book is over in a flash. It’s actually hard to believe that this is a debut novel with how well written it is. Everything that she has written has been written for a purpose and not just thrown in as a filler. This novel contains so much that it’s impossible to talk about all in a single review without giving anything away. The main themes in this book is the decisions we have to make as individuals and the consequences they have to us and others, betrayals that we may or may not have seen coming and an unexpected romance (I adore the fact that this is actually a sort of side plot, not the main one).


The characters for me are the huge winners; they are what made the book spectacular for me. Tris is one of the best protagonists I have ever read. She starts of as a weak, quite girl but grows into a strong brave woman at just 16. I felt everything she felt throughout the novel which made it even better for me. Another character I adored is Four, Tris’ mentor; he is so complex that even at the end of the novel you just know he has so many more layers we are yet to find out. His character development was phenomenal! I did not expect the direction his character was going in at all.


There are so many other characters that we are introduce to that you would believe it to be easily confusing but surprisingly Roth pulls it off remarkably well that we are never left wondering who the character is. Every single character has faults and imperfections which in my eyes only make them more believable and interesting, making the novel outstanding. I felt myself empathise with many characters, feeling sorry for them, hating and loving the people in this book. It was such an emotional ride which I loved every second of.


The ending of this book was everything I wanted and more! It was action packed, with fighting and death, heartbreaking and in a way heart warming and led nicely into a sequel. This novel left me thinking about it for days afterwards; I just could not get it out of my head! I highly highly recommend getting this book AS soon as it comes out! You will not be disappointed at all.


As a last note I’d like to say again that this book contains a lot of violence not for the younger reader.


A+