Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent
Divergent #2
Author: Veronica Roth
Published: 1st May 2012
Publisher: Harper Teen
Number of Pages: 525
Format: Hardback
Source: Bought
Purchase: Amazon, TBD, B&N

From Goodreads:

One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

My review

Pro/Con

Insurgent is the second installment in Veronica Roth's series, Divergent. Even if it doesn't exceed the first book, Divergent, Insurgent was so far one of the best book I've read this year! As there are many pro/con in common with the review of the first book, if you want, you can find my review here. Well, let's begin with the detail I loved most about the book: the cruelty. Veronica Roth is certainly an author who is not frightened to sacrifice some of her characters, sometimes even protagonists. I found it awesome when principal characters or also secondary ones die, because it always makes the book more emotional and dreadful. Let me explain, I know it's a gamble because it's something that involves the readers deeply (nobody wants to see her/his hero/heroine dead!) but nowadays happy endings are highly overrated and banal, so something which is totally unexpected here and there is necessary. Then, the final! It's really difficult to explain why I loved it so much without spoilering but I'll do my best: the author has created a whole new incredible situation, which is even more stunning than the inceptive situation. If you were thinking about how incredible was the invention of a society based on factions, then you'll be amazed (just as much as I was!) by the last invention of Veronica! As always, the whole framework was awesome and perfect and absolutely original; and the twists, God there were so many! You always have to expect anything from this author because she's always ready to upset the course of events!

Protagonist

For those who've read my review of Divergent, they know how much I loved Tris, from the first moment. Even if her character is still one of my favourites in this book there were moments in which I hated her behaviour: she intentionally tried more than once to lose her life, without a serious reason; this is certainly not a proof of that braveness I thought she had. At the same time I couldn't really blame her because that was obviously a consequence of her desperation, her desire to be reunited with her family and to escape a delusional life.

Secondary Characters

I don't know how to explain this properly, but in Insurgent Tobias hasn't really caught my attention that much. Even if I don't have any certitude for saying it, I feel like there's something wrong with him, like if he's betraying Tris. All the whispering and plotting with her mother, that until a few minutes before was the most hateful person in the planet for him, really made me suspicious. 
As a consequence I really don't like Evelyn, Tobias mother; it's evident that her intention is to dominate the other factions, anyway I don't know how Tris seems to be the only one who have this figured out. Isn't it that evident? Speaking of which, this is exactly why I bet Tobias is involved in something bigger.

Christina certainly redeemed herself in the second part of the book. Even if her behaviour was totally understandable, I hated her for blaming Tris everyday for what she did to Peter. Despite this, her sweetness and bravery finally resurfaced when she's finally ready to forgive Tris and have a fresh start.
Caleb didn't caught my attention until the betrayal, that's why I would have never suspected of him! The role that he plays in the whole story in the end, is totally unexpected because the author appearently didn't focus that much on his character before. 
I started to love Peter in this book! Even if I still have to understand his personality completely, I feel like I'm more close to him than before; I think he's greatly changed from the first book though his philosophy of life stays the same: survival above all. That's why he always choose to side with the strongest ( Erudites in this case), not because he shares their goals. Still, I think he cares for Tris and for her life, maybe because she has shown him that she can love and forgive even after all that's been through between the two of them.

Point of view

Since Tris is one of my favorite characters I love to hear facts from her point of view, but I would also love to hear what Tobias is thinking as he's still a bit mysterious to me. Moreover, being Tris the one who has suffered more losses during both books, it's touching to see her reactions to a pain so great.

Rated 4.85

Favourite quotes (God, there are so many this time LOL)

"I will never let someone else inject me again, not after letting Eric inject me with attack simulation serum after my final test. I can't change the contents of the syringe just by doing it myself, but at least this way, I am the instrument of my own destruction."

"I love Tris the Divergent, who makes decisions apart from faction loyalty, who isn't some faction archetype. But the Tris who's trying as hard as she can to destroy herself... I can't love her."

"By the time the fight dies down, my clothes are more paint-colored than black. I decide to keep the shirt to remind me why I chose Dauntless in the first place: not because they are perfect, but because they are alive. Because they are free."

"What did you do?" I scream.

"You die, I die too." Tobias looks over his shoulder at me. " I asked you not to do this. You made your decision. These are the repercussions."

"Insurgent," he says. "Noun. A person who acts in opposition to the established authority, who is not necessarily regarded as belligerent."

"People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you decide to trust them.

Best one!

"I read somewhere , once, that crying defies scientific explanation. Tears are only meant to lubricate the eyes. There is no real reason for tear glands to overproduce tears at the behest of emotion.

I think we cry to release the animal parts of us without losing our humanity. Because inside me is a beast that snarls, and growls, and strains toward freedom, toward Tobias, and, above all, toward life. And as hard as I try, I cannot kill it.

So I sob into my hands instead."