katekintailbc | Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent
by Veronica Roth
(Audio)

I probably should have read the summary of this book, because it took me far too long to recognize and realize this took place in Chicago. I couldn't help but wonder that if this was happening in just one city, what was happening in the rest of the world? It seems like such a small place for such a significant cultural situation. The idea is that, when teens come of age, they choose a faction to join. Each faction is built upon a single characteristic like honesty or bravery or selflessness.

This story follows Tris, who leaves her family in Abnigation behind and chooses to join the Dauntless faction. She must undergo initiation in order to join the faction, otherwise she will be factionless. The initiation process comes in three different stages and is difficult. More than half of the other initiates aren't going to make it (tough competition). There are lots of wrinkles on top of this. Tris starts to develop feelings for one of her instructors, Four, and discovers some things about him and her possible new faction. Tris also takes a test to see in what faction she belongs and the test reveals that she is in fact Divergent--strong in three of the five factions, but not strong enough for a single faction. In addition, some of her fellow initiates are so Dauntless, they apparently have no problem murdering if it helps them get ahead.

Apart from being confused about what's going on in the rest of the nation/world, I really enjoyed this world that was created. Any time there's this much of an extreme in a YA world with hard and fast lines drawn, you just know something's going to happen to cross or destroy the lines and someone who's not going to fit in perfectly. I liked learning about the Dauntless and their initiation. I liked seeing Tris, who came from such a repressed and controlled faction originally, adjusting to the sorts of freedoms that are had in Dauntless. I really liked the budding romance between Tris and Four, which developed slowly and confusingly and then struck with full force after a simulation revealed some things to them. And I liked the undercurrent of political movements going on in the background the whole time, which (I assume) will make an overall plot for the trilogy.

However, I really wanted to explore the other factions in more depth. I absolutely don't belong in Dauntless. And while the excitement was neat to watch, I couldn't relate to a lot of it, such as the rush during death-defying tricks like jumping onto a moving train. I would have loved a five-book series where we follow an initiate transfer into each faction. But, after finishing this book, I realize that the whole trilogy is going to be about Tris. And that's fine with me. I really like Tris, and her brother, Caleb, and Four. I look forward to finding out what happens now that their black and white faction world is blending into gray.

I look forward to the next book! I got to see Veronica Roth at BEA a few days ago, but I didn't have a ticket to her book signing. So I'll just have to make use of my library for more of this world and these characters.