Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent
Divergent #1
Author: Veronica Roth
Published: 28th February 2012
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Number of Pages: 487
Format: Paperback
Source: Won
Purchase: Amazon, TBD, B&N

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, 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 alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating 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 unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Review

*This review may contain spoilers*

Pro/Con

Divergent was an amazingly good dystopian book, I loved it from the first page! The author created this whole new world,  from which it is impossible not to be enchanted.  I really liked how she organised the society, with all the factions and serums and aptitude tests stories; it was interesting to see people classified, according to an "Aptitude test", that established for which faction the subject had more affinity for.  It was attractive, but at the same time incredibly crude to see that everyone needed to have a place in this strange society, even those who were too weak to pass the initiation tests, that were then classified as "factionless". But what I liked most was the initiation phase! I was enthralled by the different phases of initiation and by  what the initiates had to do to pass them; sometimes they were horrible! Seriously, I could have never imagined a serum that can show me my worst fears and force me to face them! Another thing that I really liked infact, it's the invention of the serums: an essence that has the power to control your mind, to take your worst fears and use them against you, to make you believe those you love are your enemies, to make you do what it wants you to.. terrific and extremely brilliant! Also the idea of the Divergents was GREAT! One of the best moments of the book is when every Dauntless is controlled by the simulation, everyone but the Divergents, who realize that they are immune to the simulation, that their brain can not be controlled.

Another important aspect of the book is certainly the love between Tobias and Tris, that I personally loved how the author described. It was a love born among desperation, suffering, between two person who thought they were so different, while they're so similar. The situation in which is born contributes to make it feel strong, invincible.

In general, I think the detail that made me love the book so much ( I haven't mentioned even a small negative detail this time!) is that Veronica Roth is always full of surprises: her books are full of twists, betrayals, revenges and everything a good book should have, in the right measure. 

Protagonist

Tris has become one of my favourite heroine ever! I think she has great in common with Katniss, from The Hunger Games: they are both brave, intelligent, smart, clever, with a huge spirit of survival; at the same time, as every 16 normal girl she is incredibly emotional, even if she doesn't have time to bask in her pain so she's always forced to keep her grief inside and move on.  As Katniss, she's forced by the course of events to grow up and her change is evident if we consider the Tris who was afraid to tell her parents she doesn't want to be an Abnegation, to the Tris who is one of the leader of the war against the Erudites.

Secondary characters

I really liked Tobias character, he's certainly one of my favourites of this book! I think Tobias and Tris are complementaries, they support each other, one would be incomplete without the other. In my opinion what is more intriguing about Tobias character is that veil of mystery that covers him: he's the strong and beautiful initiates' trainer but apart from this wi don't really know much of him. For this reason I REALLY liked the use of the "Fear Landscape" as a tool to reveal Tobias' past and personality: it completely opens a gash into the past of the character that has helped us to understand him better. 

Christina and Will are simply adorable! I don't really know why I've grown so fond of them (Maybe because they were always in the middle of the spotlight, always near Tris in every moment)  but it is so ;it's useless to say what shot to the heart was the scene in the driveway, the death of Will. BOOM.

After that accident I was really curious to know Christina's reaction in front of the truth but the author eventually reserved this details for the sequel.

Al really surprised me; he was initially in Tris' group, together with Christina and Will and I was very fond of him,too. He seemed sweet, delicate and genuinely in love with Tris. What he had done to try to pass initiation really shocked me in the beginning but then I realise I couldn't be mad at him: in a society in which you're completely forgotten if you can't pass initiation, fear wins over any other feeling.

Least but not last Peter; since I'm writing this review along with the Insurgent review, I can't separate the feelings I have felt for him in the two books. What I feel like saying is that in book one he's certainly the antagonist and I hated him.. but not for too long! He's the most difficult character to understand and I really like his sophistication!

Writing

Well, Veronica's writing is amazing. I think her style is similar to Lauren DeStefano and Stephenye Meyer in The Host: direct, concise, raw. She often uses short sentences and a lot of punctuation to to increase the focus on that particular sentence and all these little details make Divergent one of the best book I've read this year. Beautifully, amazingly written.

Overall, the book is AMAZING! Definitely a must-read.

Rated

Favourite quotes:
"It's a cruel joke, but it's hard for me to fight off a smile. That is, until Four's eyes shift to my arm around Will's and the humour drains from them. His expression sends a chill through me. Is he... jealous?"

"Eric called Al's suicide brave, and he was wrong. My mother's death was brave. I remember how calm she was, how determined. It isn't just brave that she died for me; it is brave that she did it without announcing it, without hesitation, and without appearing to consider another option."

"Somewhere inside me is a merciful, forgiving person. Somewhere there is a girl who tries to understand what people are going through, who accepts that people do evil things and that desperation leads them to darker places than they ever imagined. I swear she exists, but if I saw her, I wouldn't recognize her."