“One choice decides your friends. One choice defines your beliefs. One choice determines your loyalties— Forever. One choice can transform you.”
Divergent by Veronica Roth
When I first heard about Veronica Roth’s Divergent, I thought it was similar to Susanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. Both books are part of a series. Divergent is the first book in Veronica Roth’s series, and is followed by Insurgent and Allegiant. The Hunger Games is the first book in Susanne Collins’ series, and is followed by Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Both of these trilogies have been made into movies. Divergent comes out in theaters on March 21, 2014. Divergent and The Hunger Games belong to the genre known as dystopian literature, or post-apocalyptic literature. They both have lots of violence in them. Unlike The Hunger Games, though, in Divergent there is not a love triangle. Despite all these similarities, Divergent is a great book. It stands on its own in the dystopian genre. Veronica Roth has a promising career as a writer.
Dauntless the Brave
Divergent is about a sixteen- year-old girl named Beatrice Prior, who must decide on Initiation Day which faction she will belong to for the rest of her life. Beatrice was born into Abnegation but doesn’t really feel like she belongs there. Not feeling like you fit in is a common feeling of most teenagers. Choosing what you want to do for the rest of your life is a very difficult decision to make for anyone. Choosing to leave one’s family forever is another decision, which is tough to make by oneself. After her aptitude tests, Beatrice is told that she is Divergent, but is not told what that means. Being Divergent is dangerous, but Beatrice does not know why. Tori, Beatrice’s test administrator explains, “Beatrice,” […] “under no circumstances should you share that information with anyone. This is very important.” Tris decides to switch factions and join Dauntless.
When Beatrice joins Dauntless, she changes her name to Tris. Tris must go through a series of tests, along with the other Dauntless initiates and transfers. She makes friends with Christina, Will, Al, Uriah, Marlene, and Lynn. Tris has never had any friends before. She also makes enemies with Peter, Drew, and Molly. Everyone has met someone who is or was a bully, and knows how difficult it is to deal with them. Tris is attracted to one of her teachers, a mysterious eighteen-year-old man named Four. Who is Four? What are his secrets? Why is he called Four? Why is he trying to protect Tris from the Dauntless leaders finding out about her being Divergent? Tris learns more about being Divergent when she has another conversation with Tori in Tori’s tattoo parlor, “Among other things, you… you are someone who is aware, when they are in a simulation, that what they are experiencing is not real,” […] “Someone who can then manipulate the simulation or even shut it down. And also…” She leans forward and looks into my eyes. “Someone who, because you are also Dauntless… tends to die.” Being Divergent does not just mean that you are someone who can cheat on a test. It means that you think differently than everyone else.
Divergent has a lot of violence in it. The students at Dauntless learn how to fight, and they must fight against each other whether they want to or not. They fight against their friends and their foes. One of the students, Edward, is stabbed in the eye by Peter and Drew, after Edward is ranked first and Peter is ranked second. Peter saw Edward as his rival and wanted to eliminate him. I liked how Tris dealt with the bullies. She is a strong female character because she not only stands up for herself, but she also stands up for her friends. She is not afraid to speak her mind.
Overall, I liked Divergent a lot. The one thing I had a problem with is that later in the book, Tris and Four cannot stop kissing. They kiss even though people are dying around them. They should be trying to stop more people from dying instead of kissing each other. There could have been someone who told them that now is not the time for you to do that, but there wasn’t. If there had been, it would have been cliché because you see that all the time in movies. I get that Tris and Four like each other and maybe even love each other. I also understand that both Tris and Four have trouble with intimacy. If they have so much trouble with intimacy, then why are they always kissing, holding hands, and hugging each other?
Shailene Woodley as Beatrice Prior
I look forward to reading Insurgent and Allegiant. I also look forward to seeing Divergent, which stars Shailene Woodley as Tris and Theo James as Four. I recommend Divergent for those of you who are fans of The Hunger Games or other dystopian literature.
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