Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent is a poor man's Hunger Games.



I considered just leaving the post at that but I'll elucidate a little bit...

The themes in Divergent are very similar to those in The Hunger Games. Divergent is not as good as The Hunger Games, but still a page turner. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but I would avoid social interaction to read the Hunger Games and I would not do that for Divergent...so it's all relative.

There is a second book, Insurgent, which will be released in May (and immediately delivered to my Kindle). I believe it's meant to be a trilogy.

Basic premise is that there was some sort of war that destroyed the US as we know it currently - this book is set in the future in what is currently Chicago. There's a fence surrounding the city - but who knows what's on the other side of the fence? Is it holding them in or holding something else out? What caused the war that got them to the place they're currently in? Society is divided into five factions - Dauntless (bravery), Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (niceness, for lack of a better word), Erudite (intelligence), and Candor (honesty). You are born into a faction but at age 16 you take an aptitude test that tells you what faction you are most suited to. You don't have to choose the faction that your aptitude test points towards - it's all up to you. If you choose to leave your family, you could potentially be saying goodbye to them forever - kind of a faux pas. Which is stronger - faction or blood? Once you choose your faction, you must undergo an initiation. If you fail to pass, you'll end up factionless, living on the margins of the city and of society itself.

There's unrest among the factions - why are things the way they are? Have they always been this way? Do they have to continue to be so?

Roth is clever and the story is very well written but it's definitely YA fiction. There's a moment you're waiting for almost as soon as the book begins, and in my opinion it takes way too long to get there. I doubt teenagers (the target audience) would agree with me, so probably a good move on Roth's part.

If you enjoyed The Hunger Games, you'll likely enjoy Divergent.