Wednesday 17 July 2013

Divergent, by Veronica Roth

Divergent, by Veronica Roth
Published by Katherine Tegen Books
Amazon.co.uk/Amazon.com

She turns to face the future in a world that's falling apart.
For sixteen-year-old Tris, the world changes in a heartbeat when she is forced to make a terrible choice. Turning her back on her family, Tris ventures out, alone, determined to find out where she truly belongs. Shocked by the brutality of her new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her. The hardest choices may yet lie ahead...
Wow. Wow. Just, wow. That was brilliant. I've read many blog posts that say how good Divergent is, but it's still taken me this long to read it. I've just finished it, and the effect is like any of the greatest books: I feel as though I've been taken on the biggest, fastest rollercoaster, then been dragged through a hedge backwards, and I've got the biggest grin on my face. There'll be quite some book hangover tomorrow.

At the age of sixteen, every teenager must choose a faction in which to live the rest of their lives. Tris (or Beatrice) can choose to stay with her family in Abnegation, which values selflessness above all else, or choose one of the other four and go it alone. However, where for most teenagers it's a simple choice, Tris thinks differently to other people, and this makes her life dangerous. She's divergent.

I found Tris to be a really relatable character. Strong as hell, obviously - which YA protagonist isn't, nowadays?! Plus, while it was obvious to see who was good and who was bad, there were flaws even in the good characters that made the relationships really realistic. I must admit, it took me a while to see the appeal of Dauntless, a faction that values bravery, but there's so much action, and I was rooting for Tris the whole way.

Plus, if anyone regularly reads my blog, they'll know I hate all sorts of insta-love and romance in YA in general. BUT... The relationship between Tris and Four was really well written, with a lot of build up. Some of Tris's fears about it are also shown, which again made everything so much more realistic.

Everything that happened in the book was so vivid, I can easily imagine what the film will be like when it comes out next year. Tris is being played by Shailene Woodley, who is also going to be playing Hazel in The Fault in our Stars, so the actress has a lot to live up to! Four is being played by Theo James, and while he wasn't what I was expecting, phwoar! 'Nuff said.

Read the book. Read it. Go on! As for me, I'll be buying Insurgent as soon as I press the publish button.

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