Divergent by Veronica Roth

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

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.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the YA scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

Review:

Nothing short of spectacular, Divergent is simply one of the best of the year, if not ever. Heart-racing, unique, extremely well-written, and spellbinding, there wasn't a time when I wasn't racing to get through this, eager to see what would occur next, and in the rare occasion I wasn't able to read it for a time, I was constantly thinking about it and dying to find a way to read more.

Divergent tells the story of a Dystopian Chicago where people are put into five different groups- Amity, Candor, Dauntless, Abnegation, and Erudite; and if you aren't lucky enough to make it through any of them, you become factionless, poor and given a dirty job no one else wants to do. For Beatrice it's just about time for her to decide on a faction, and while her parents are eager for her to continue on with Abnegation, the fraction she's belonged to for her whole life along with them, she wants something different; she's not like the other Abnegation: she asks too many questions and she isn't always selfless. So, come the day of the decision, she picks a fraction that surprises not only herself but her family as well. With her new fraction, comes a new identity: Trish, a girl who is fearless and daring so much unlike boring old Beatrice. As Trish, she begins to find her place in life, she makes great friends and she may even have caught the eye of one of the most stunning and daring guys alive. But, as it turns out, this fraction will not be easy. She'll have to fight, come to peace with her past, and face challenges like she could have never imagined. Will she come out alive and not ruined? Will her friends? Only time and more pages will tell!

There were so many fantastic things in Divergent that I don't where to begin, though I guess I'll start with the world.

Veronica Roth has created quite the atmosphere in this one. Unique and interesting, there wasn't a time when I wasn't curious to find out more about the five fractions, as well as what each entitled for the members. Specifically, I loved learning about the Dauntless, because while it sounded scary, it also seemed like fun, something that would give anyone quite the thrill so to say.

Even better, I loved the characters. Tris was someone I came to admire and adore over time, because I loved how she not only become someone so brave and fearless over time, but she was also someone who would go to the end of the world to be there for her friends, especially Four, a guy who was cocky, adorable, secretive, and someone I came to love nearly as much Tris did over time. I also loved seeing her interact with her new friends, because not only did a different side of Tris come out when she was with them, but they also brought even more funny and heartbreaking scenes to the mix.

And when the characters and world were mixed together, it created quite a plot. There were so many twists and turns within this one that I never exactly knew how everything was going to end, and more importantly, I loved how Veronica didn't shy away from the gritty parts within this: the death, the scars people have, the fight to find your way in life, everything was in this and nearly perfect.

As you can also probably imagine, Veronica's writing was simply spectacular in this. She created such an amazing and powerful novel in this with her immense talent, talent that I can't wait to see more of as time goes on.

And the ending? I adored it. It has left me craving to read the sequel, as I know it will be even better than Divergent, and even more importantly, it wasn't nearly as cliff-hanger-ish as I thought it would be.

Heartbreaking, unique, and daring, Divergent is a novel that will manage to gain plenty of fans once its release. But word of warning, you may need a box of tissues along with you, because this book isn't always for the faint-hearted.

Grade: A+

Divergent is now out!

Source: Publicist at HarperTeen- thanks Allison!