Divergent, Veronica Roth - Divided by personalities

Book review on one of my favorite fiction reads.

Placed in a system where everyone is divided by personality, would you survive? In Divergent, Arthur Veronica Roth shows us just what it would be like to be separated from those that are different from us. This Dystopian novel is centered around bravery and is characterized by the high stakes of a revolution.

On their 16th birthday the young adults inside the wall are forced to pick their faction - their home for the rest of their lives. Their options? Candor, Amity, Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless. The book centers around the story of Tris Prior, born and raised by the leaders of the peace loving abnegation she chooses the life that the Dauntless faction offers even though she is told that she doesnt fall in any of the categories making her Divergent. As she adjusts to her new life she becomes aware of a plot to take over the minds of her new faction. Suddenly she becomes personally involved in the life of the President. Finally through a twist of plans they are finally able to stop the system but only at the cost of lives.

As the main character Tris shows us about Bravery in a unique way. Physically she is fairly normal and when she is thrown into the highly active Dauntless culture we can all feel her. The Love interest and Mentor are one and the same in this story giving us the very unique character of Four. He is also Divergent but living very successfully in the dauntless environment. He gives us a vivid picture of bravery when it comes to loving others after you have been hurt in the past. Eric is one of the many villains in this book but as with the others he gives us a new perspective on bravery. He appears as a physically strong leader who isnt afraid of anything but in all reality he lacks the bravery to be vulnerable and becomes a villian in the process.

The style of this book is very fast paced, keeping you turning page after page. Written in the first person perspective of Tris you really get to see inside her very relatable head, but not in a way where you are blinded by her biases. Even though she is the main character each of the other characters in her alliance are so well developed that my favorite character isn't even the main one which shows how well the side characters are written. There are one or two scenes that are described in a bit too much detail that the book definitely could have gone without. But they are easy to skip over, as they do not include any major plot points.

Overall I would highly suggest this for a young adult read but because of the overly described romantic scenes, no younger.

It is my favorite book because of the unique setting and relatable characters. The theme of Bravery is woven really tightly into the entirety of the story, leaving you pondering the results long after you have finished reading.