Tuesday 25 November 2014

''Divergent''- Book Review

Author: Veronica Roth
Published: 2011

Genres: Novel, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Fantasy

Rating: 5 out of 5

Review

So I have finally read it. Finally. And I was simply so overwhelmed- needless to say, I LOVED ''Divergent'', I really, really, really loved it. While reading it I was like, ''Why did it take me such a long time to start reading this!?'' ''Divergent'' is a book that made me thrilled, that made me smile, that made me think, that brought tears to my eyes. It was an intense, emotional, thrilling, action-packed ride, it was! I would easily recommend it to anyone! 

A dystopian novel, ''Divergent'' is set in a post-apocalyptic future where Chicago is divided into five different factions having different characteristics. Years ago, these factions were formed to protect humans from their adverse qualities that lead them to their destruction. The factions were formed to make sure that human stick to the good qualities only: the selfless people belong Abnegation, the truthful and honest people belong to Candor, Erudite consists of people who value knowledge above all, Amity consists of peace-loving people, while Dauntless consists of dauntless, brave people. Every person should choose a faction once he/she reaches the age of sixteen. After choosing, the people need to stick to the values and qualities of the faction they have chosen.

The protagonist and narrator, Beatrice Prior, was born to parents belonging to Abnegation. Her father is one of the people entrusted with the task of running the city: most of the people running the city belong to Abnegation for their selfless nature. Beatrice just cannot accept the Abnegation lifestyle. She cannot think of spending the rest of her life making compromises and sacrifices and sticking to selflessness. The time has come for Beatrice and her brother, Caleb to choose the faction in which they will spend the rest of their lives. They have to go through an apitutude test, where it will be tested which faction is suitable for them. Beatrice's reports are problematic: the person who conducted the test, Tori, explains to Beatrice that she possesses the characteristics of being in Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite. Such a person who can belong in different factions are known as ''Divergent''. Tori explains that being a divergent is a dangerous, extremely dangerous thing. She does not explain why, and erases the result of Beatrice's test.

 Beatrice is faced with a difficult dilemma: she does not want to spend the rest of her life being selfless and making sacrifices, but she feels hesitant to leave her parents. On the other hand, she is attracted to the brave lifestyle of the Dauntless faction.  In the Choosing Ceremony, however, she ultimately chooses Dauntless, thereby abandoning her parents.

Beatrice, along with the other initiators, has to go through three training phases- three difficult, extremely difficult and torturous phases. To Beatrice, these seem cruel. These seem dangerous. These seem extremely cruel and torturous. But at the end of the third phase, only ten initiators will be allowed to be Dauntless, all the other initiators will become factionless and live terrible lives in the streets. Beatrice, who renames herself as Tris, has to go through all these phases, all these cruelties. Slowly, she comes to appreciate, she comes to love the Dauntless way of life. It is a hard life, it is a difficult way, but she comes to appreciate it, she wants to belong in it. But for that she has to survive the difficult phases...

And she falls in love with one of her trainers, Four...

And there is a danger, an unknown conspiracy lurking behind...

Words will not be enough to describe how much I loved ''Divergent''. It was fascinating.  I couldn't put it down. It kept me reading, it kept me expecting, it kept me thrilled, it kept me predicting what might happen next. I loved the storytelling and the character development. I loved the setting, I really did. I loved Tris. I loved Four. And I appreciated all the other characters, their development. There were parts in which I cheered for Tris. I was overjoyed when Tris achieved something. There were emotional scenes in which I cried with Tris. There were scenes that made my heart pound, that made me anxious. 

I would like to conclude saying that ''Divergent'' is a must-read for everybody. You want dystopia? Sci-Fi? An adventure-filled and action-packed novel? Romance? A novel filled with thrilling as well as heartbreaking and emotional moments? ''Divergent'' has it all. For me, it was a wonderful ride, a wonderful, thrilling, emotional, beautiful, heart pounding ride. I look forward to rereading this one soon! 

5 out of 5






 



  

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