What would your choice be?
Fiction – YA –Dystopia
Reading
level: Ages 13 and up
487 pages
Publication Date: April 28th 2011
Divergent Book #1
Literary awards: ALA Teens' Top
Ten Nominee (2012), Children's Choice Book Award Nominee for Teen Choice Book
of the Year (2012), Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee (2014), DABWAHA Romance
Tournament for Best Young Adult Romance (2012), Goodreads Choice for Favorite
Book of 2011 and for Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2011)
Beatrice Prior lives in divided
society where each faction holds a particular virtue above all others. Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the
selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the
intelligent). At the age of sixteen
each person takes a test and then must decide which faction they wish to join
and support. Torn between her own
desires and choosing the faction of her family, she must decide where she
belongs and she hopes the test will help her make the decision. But Beatrice’s results are both unique and deadly
beyond her understanding. With no help
from the test, and told to keep the results a secret, she makes a choice that
is even surprising to her.
Renaming herself, Tris, she throws herself wholeheartedly into the
competitive initiation trying to live up to the life and future she has
chosen. But Tris’ perfect world is
unraveling around her and the conflicts between the factions are intensifying. Tris’ greatest secret may have the power to
save if it doesn’t get her killed first.
Okay I admit I am a writing
style snob as any of you can attest to if you’ve read my posts. I have very definite ideas of what I like and
if you gave me a description of writing as straight forward and no frills I
would immediately and passionately dislike it until my better sense of fairness
caught up with me. But in Divergent the
straight forward style is a virtue. I
immediately took to this book from page one.
The writing was raw and not real big on detail, but the action and
emotion was so absorbing I didn’t even notice and had no time to critique the
writing with my usual vim and vigor.
I had this book for about two
weeks before I started it. I was really
nervous about reading another depressing dystopia book, but I shouldn’t have
been. Roth was cunning little spider
weaving her web around me and reeling me in page by page, development by
development. I became so enthralled with
the story as I read I really hated putting it down to go to sleep. Sleep at that point seemed a waste of time
compared to what was happening to Tris.
I fell in love with Tris and connected with her from page one. Her vulnerability and yearning coupled with
her strength was something I could identify with. I felt like I could really understand her and
her motivations.
Veronica Roth is a true
talent. Divergent was polished, deliberate and refined and all the more
amazing for being a first book. Roth has
a real understanding of character development, storytelling and creation of a
book world. I see great things in her
future and know this will not be the only series she does. Now all I have to do is track down Insurgent, because my library doesn’t
have it!
ISBN 0062024027 (ISBN13: 9780062024022)
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