Another dystopian delight that I've had the pleasure to
read! I finished the majority of the book in a day,
whilst lying out in the
sun.
Beatrice Prior lives with her mother, father and her brother,
Caleb in a faction called Abnegation. Those who live in this faction value
selflessness above everything, and they blame the selfish and the vain for the
troubles of ages gone by. They try and do everything to forget themselves, and
only see the needs of others.
Beatrice finds this lifestyle difficult, and just after her
sixteenth birthday, she will have her Choosing Ceremony. This is when she could
decide to stay in her faction, or move to one of the other four. Dauntless
value courage. Erudite value knowledge. Amity value kindness. Candor value
honesty.
Our protagonist faces one choice that could transform her
into a completely different person. She faces a more difficult choice than
most, as she has been told she is Divergent, which means she is suited for
three different factions: Erudite, Abnegation and Dauntless. Although she doesn't know why, she has been told never to share this information with anyone, she is
told that it is a dangerous thing to be.
This novel is well written and captivating. The idea of a
society that is sectioned off by the traits they believe in, instead of their religion
or ethnicity, is fascinating. I know it is a huge cliché, but I really could
not put this book down, I found myself thinking ‘just a little more..’ until I
realised I had went to the end of the novel!
The story is engaging, with mysterious sides to all the
characters that make to want to read on. There are touching moments in the
novel, alongside humorous and shocking moments too. Even though I enjoy a good
love triangle as much as the next teenage girl, the romantic relationship that
I hope will span throughout the entire series, is crystal clear from the start
of the novel and I think that makes it a lot easier to really get behind both
of the characters and their struggle to stay together.
Another key point that this novel highlighted to me, was
that everybody will conform to a certain way of life if they think it will make
them fit in. In the book, it is very clear what faction somebody comes from
because of the way they act and dress. It had me questioning whether or not
this is a good thing because isn't that the way stereotypes are formed?
I have high hopes for the rest of this trilogy and I sincerely
hope that the next two books are as exciting as Divergent has been.
I would give this book a Erudite rating, as
I think that the novel is intriguing, interesting and wholly intelligent.
Happy Reading!
Review by Lauren Goodfellow
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