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stephmorrisbyatt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Suicide, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual content
planetshelf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment
dvnrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Violence, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
whilhelminaharker's review against another edition
1.5
When you're growing up, you're trying to make sense of the arbitrary and yet seemingly all-important rituals and patterns that you see around you. You're trying to sort through your loyalty to your family, to your country, to your friends, and to your own indivuidal needs. You're growing up and realizing that the things you loved you have grown out of, or the people around you have changed, or the world always had a dark side and was never as simple as it seemed. You're trying to answer questions like "What do you want to be when you grow up?", which can feel stifling, especially when you don't know. You are, above all, trying to figure out who you are, and that feels practically impossible when adults don't see you as a full person yet, when pressure is being put on you to choose a path in life(and you better be successful at it), and when you don't even know what true selfhood means. Is it found in the people surrounding you? Is it found in striking off on your own? Is it found in professional acheivement? What defines your personality? Who are you?
So it makes total sense to me why Divergent resonated with a young audience. Is the metaphor clumsy? Sure. But is there value in it anyway? Yeah! I can respect any message aimed at young people that tells them not to buy into the false dichotomy and myth of "either-or" that society forces on us. Be loyal to every part of yourself. Be small and weak and brave and ruthless. Answer to yourself, not to the powers that be. I think that that's always going to be a good message to send to young people.
Doesn't change the fact that this book is horribly written, the characters have zero depth, and it really really stops being engaging once it moves out of the land of "coming-of-age story" and into "generic sci-fi war". But you know. I don't think that the work as a whole is totally worthless. If young girls are looking for stuff to read, this is far from the worst story they could be absorbing.
Also, why does every character have to be introduced with their name spelled out for us in dialogue? "Yeah, that's a great idea, Molly." "This is kind of what we signed up for, Peter." Did an editor even look at this?
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty
cloudyowls's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence and Kidnapping
Moderate: Kidnapping and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
tarnishedcopper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Graphic: Suicide and Sexual harassment
cdt96's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
greenapplescented250's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Suicide, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment