Divergent
By Veronica Roth
(Katherine Tegen Books, Hardcover, 9780062024022, May 2011, 496pp.)

The Short of It:

Reading this is like visiting a theme park from the comfort of your home. Lots of thrills. A fast-paced, adventurous read.

The Rest of It:

When you hit a certain age, you are expected to make a choice that could change your life forever and it’s time for Beatrice to make that choice. The world that Beatrice lives in is divided into five factions:

Abnegation – the selfless

Amity – the peaceful

Candor – the honest

Dauntless – the brave

Erudite – the intelligent

After completing her aptitude test, Beatrice is told that she falls into more than one faction. That she is in fact, Divergent. At the time, this information doesn’t mean much to her but she is told that being Divergent is a danger in and of itself and that she shouldn’t tell anyone, not even her family.

At the choosing ceremony, she is forced to make a decision. Should she stay with her family in Abnegation? Or should she choose another faction? As you can imagine, the factions and how they view each other is key here. Beatrice, after making her decision changes her name to Tris and then realizes that she is in the middle of a much larger plan.

This book is pure fun. It’s well-paced with characters you can relate to. It’s not over-the-top dramatic as some young adult books can be and it rates low on the violence scale which is odd for a dystopian novel. I sat down to read a few chapters and ended up reading it straight through.

A lot of readers compare it to The Hunger Games but I prefer this series over HG. Oh and yes, Divergent is also part of a series but I found it to be more entertaining with better writing and a lot less violence. I just picked up book #2 so I can’t wait to dive in.

Source: Borrowed
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