Thursday, August 9, 2012

Review of Divergent by Veronica Roth



      

         Divergent

 Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Harper Collins
Length: 487 Pages
Paperback, via Amazon.com
Rating: 5 Brownies






                    

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GoodReads Synopsis:

 
            In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

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My Review:

   
             Breathe, Rooney. Breathe.

 Divergent. Where to begin?

             Let's start with the leading lady herself, Ms. Beatrice "Tris" Prior. I am delighted to say that I have enjoyed being inside her head for the ride that is Divergent. Many times, good books become "okay" books simply because the main character is difficult to understand, relate with, or in some cases, like at all. Beatrice is a breath of fresh air amidst the stuffiness of a room filled with two-dimensional, bratty, and confusing female leads. It was wonderful to listen to her have real thoughts, slowly transforming alongside the events that weave the plot of the story. You think she's strong, until she proves that she's got even more kick to her than you ever thought.

            Now, let's talk about the romance. One word: moderation. Roth does an excellent job at dispersing romantic moments at the perfect times throughout the book. You never felt smothered by sappy affection and yet you never went too long without the all too familiar sigh departing from your smiling mouth. Another thing, without giving too much away, is that all of the romance seemed natural and unforced-- something that creeps its way into a lot of stories that appear to have romance only because the author feels it's necessary to attract an audience. Again, a nice breath of fresh air.

            As for the other relationships in the story, I give yet another round of applause to Ms. Roth. I found it insanely easy to picture the characters and laugh when they laughed, cry when they cried. You grow attached to them and they don't let you go. Everyone is a person you may find in the real world, which only adds to the realness that envelops the faction-ed world.

           Concept. Truthfully, I was worried. I knew quite well that many authors had attempted to aim for Dystopian/Action/Romance stories and fell flat before leaving the starting line. This was not the case with Divergent. Though many may find it difficult to look past the unlikely possibility that a society could end up the way it is in Divergent, I found it easy to just go with the flow. So long as you allow the words to take your mind, they will. I'll leave the rest of the plot as ambiguous as it was to me before reading it.

            I could rant for so much longer about this book, but I feel I've touched base with most of the things that people like myself look for in a book review. If I haven't made it clear yet in my other points, though, just how perfectly descriptive this book is, I'll stress it again now. Images will appear in your head as though they are of your own imagination, playing out before you. At least, that's how it felt to me.

I don't think I even need to say how strongly I recommend this book. Go read it. Now.

(First seen on GoodReads.com)

1 comment:

  1. This sounds amazing, I don't know why I haven't read it yet besides my mountain of TBR.
    Thanks for review,
    Brandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog

    ReplyDelete