DIVERGENT By Veronica Roth

DIVERGENT By Veronica Roth

Categories: Science Fiction, Young Adult

Here’s a story about Beatrice Prior, who lives in a futuristic (dystopian) Chicago. Her society is divided into five fractions that collectively create a functioning society. The Candor value honest above all else. Abnegation are selfless. Dauntless are known for their bravery. Amity are peaceful. Erudite thirst for knowledge and are supposed to be highly intelligent.  Every year every 16 year old must decide which fraction to dedicate their lives to. For Beatrice, raised in the Abnegation, it means staying with her family or embracing her true self. After her choice, there is a long initiation process that pushes each teenage to their limit. Failure to succeed means being cast off as fraction-less, banished from society.

This was a great story, full of thrills. There was hidden agendas, betrayal, passion, solidarity, lots of action. I was impressed with the amount of character growth Beatrice accomplishes, even changing her name to Tris to further distance herself from the girl she used to be. A love interest named Four, a tough and closed-off Dauntless training instructor, makes things complicated for Tris. Her brother joins a rival fraction. Family and fraction secrets are discovered.  I enjoyed the escape of this book; it was an action movie inside my head. If you liked the Hunger Games you should really read Divergent. The sequel is titled Insurgent and is also available. Read this before they make it into a movie!