Book Review: The Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth

Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant
by Veronica Roth (YA Roth)

My oldest daughter recommended the Divergent series to me years ago, but I just got around to reading the series this past month. The Divergent series looks at life in what appears to be a post-apocalyptic city where its citizens live in “factions.” The teenagers are “tested” to see which faction they are best suited for, then allowed to make their choice on “Choosing Day.” The teens can stay with their own families in the faction they grew up in or they can decide to go elsewhere where they will live out the rest of their lives. Some aspects of this reminded me of the Harry Potter series when the kids are sorted into their “houses” at Hogwarts, but this is much more serious. The main character, Beatrice, is tested and discovers that she is not “normal” because she shows aptitude for several factions — she is Divergent, and told to not tell anyone the results of her test. She discovers that being Divergent is dangerous — there are people who will kill her if they discover the truth. Needless to say, Beatrice chooses the most difficult path and trains to become a fighting machine. Things are not what they seem on the surface for any of the factions, and one group has the technology to make one faction wipe out others. And this is only the beginning… I found this series hard to put down. Although it was difficult to read about the violence in this city, especially with everything going on in our own country right now, I was intrigued by the message of hope for a new beginning for members of this community. I enjoyed the first book so much that I also checked out the movie (DVD Divergent) to see how well the story was portrayed. Although the movie was not as good as the book, it was interesting to see how they portrayed the city and the factions. The ending in Allegiant was different from what I was expecting, but it still made for great reading. I highly recommend this series.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Logan’s Run by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson.)

 

( official Divergent page on the official Veronica Roth web site )

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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