Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Reviewed by Pooja D.
2013 LGG Copy Editor

By now, many of us have heard of the book Divergent by Veronica Roth.  This exciting novel is the first book of this Roth’s trilogy. Divergent takes place in the future in the Chicago area.  In this epoch, people are sorted into one of five groups that match their strongest virtue.  There is Amnity (friendliness), Drudite (intelligence), Dauntless (bravery), Candor (truthfulness), and Abnegation (selflessness).  If one has one or more strong virtues then he or she is divergent.  Divergents are against the law because they do not have one particular trait out of the five.  If caught, divergents become factionless, which means they do not belong in any community or they could be killed.

Children stay in the faction they were born in until they reach 16 years of age.  The year they turn 16, they take an aptitude test that shows in what faction they belong.  This is where we meet the main character of the story, Beatrice Prior.  Beatrice grew up in the Abnegation faction where everyone always gave their seats to other factions, they never looked in a mirror except once a year, and they were completely selfless.  When she took the test, however, she found out that she was indecisive.  Her aptitude tests was showed that she could be Erudite, Dauntless, and Abnegation.  She was divergent. 

She was told to never tell anyone that she was a divergent or she might die.  At the choosing ceremony where everyone announces what faction he or she would be going into, Beatrice chooses Dauntless while her brother chooses Erudite.  They then leave their family and begin their new life. 

Beatrice is the first rookie to appear to the Dauntless crowd.  She renames herself as Tris and begins to weave her way up the ladder to becoming initiated into the Dauntless faction.  However, not everything is as easy as she assumed it would be.  Only the top 10 initiates would be allowed into the Dauntless faction, all the others would become factionless.  The Dauntless initiation takes part in three steps: handling weapons and hand-to-hand combat, stimulations, and lastly, the fear landscape.

Throughout the three steps, Tris goes from a weak little Abnegation girl to a fierce competitor.  People try to hurt her in order to knock her out of the running so they might get a chance to be in the top 10.  Since Tris is divergent, she is able to manipulate stimulations because she knows that they are not real.  This makes Tris an even bigger threat to others and puts a bigger target on her back.  Divergents, as mentioned before, are killed if found.  If she passes the stimulations too quickly, her secret could be revealed. Tris begins to befriend Christina, Al, and Will as well as other Dauntless-born initiates, however others see her as a threat and begin to try and harm her.

The initiates are led by a mysterious man called Four.  At first he is indifferent to Tris, but as he sees her strategic skill and her will to help others he becomes interested in her.  He figures out that she is divergent because of the stimulation tests and he covers for her. Tris and Four begin to see each other more often and help each other out.  They become so close that Four lets Tris into his fear landscape before the test.  While in the landscape, Tris finds the answers to questions that she had in her mind.

Four also tells her about an attack that the Erudites are planning which involves controlling the Dauntless people so that they can be soldiers in the war.

As the book goes on, we see Tris grow up into a Dauntless fighter.  We see her and Four become closer, and we feel happy when she is happy, and sad during her losses.  But will she give up?  Will she be able to pass in the top 10, or will something stop her?  Will someone betray her?  Will she have to kill someone to keep her place?  Will anyone find out that she is divergent? What role will her brother play in the book?  Will we see the Dauntless fall?  Find out in the thrilling novel Divergent.

This book is fast paced and action packed.  The characters are relatable and I definitely connected with the book.  I would recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of The Hunger Games and is a fan of dystopian novels.  In the back of the book for you to take which tells you what faction you would be in.  I recommend that you take this test for fun. What faction are you?

This book will also be a movie.  It is coming out on March 21, 2014 and has an excellent cast.  So get this book and read it before you see the movie, you will not be disappointed by Roth’s adventure packed novel.

For a look at the movie trailer, click here.