Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Die Bestimmung by Veronica Roth

34 reviews

this_is_lee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is one of the first ones I remember loving and obsessing over. I recognize that it is far from a masterpiece and that the author is problematic but I also am able to so easily fall into the world and characters that Roth created. I love the flaws we see and the amount of politics that are on display. 
The Divergent series will alway bring comfort to me (except for Allegiant when needs to get thrown out.)

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embla_v's review against another edition

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adventurous

4.5

En bra dystopisk ya bok. Jag tyckte den var bra och kommer definitivt fortsätta läsa trilogin. 

Det handlar om Beatrice som precis som alla andra sextonåringar måste välja falang. Ska hon stanna hos de osjälviska eller byta till de tappra, de lärda, de ärliga eller de fridfullt? 

Beatrice får möta många utmaningar i det dystopisk Chicago men är ändå en tjej man kan relatera till. Bra karaktärer, bra handling och bra skriven, en bok jag kan rekommendera alla som vill ha en dystopi för åldern unga vuxna (young adult). 

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planetshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
  • 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

The Divergent series was built on such an interesting concept and was written well. Veronica Roth is a talented author and has published some of my favorite stories.

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hazydazywaffles's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

romance was ok, a little fast if you ask me.

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my3bb8's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced
  • 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


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whilhelminaharker's review against another edition

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1.5

For all that people give this series shit about it's hilariously simplistic and implausible worldbuilding, on this reread I'm inclined to give it a pass. Sure, dystopia is generally supposed to draw parallels to the world we're living in today, but <i>Divergent</i> belongs to that subsection of teenage-aimed sci-fi/fantasy where the world is meant to represent nothing more than the world of a child or young adult. It's more about the emotional turmoil that they go through existing in society, not so much about the society itself. Which is why, dumb as it is, I don't think that the premise here is that silly or worthless when viewed through that lens.

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?

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lucychafia's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Pretty good I guess. Haven't finished the series but so far the second book is going well! I liked some of the characters I think. I guess sometimes it gets a tiny bit slow, but overall I think it was pretty fast-medium paced!

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theresabee's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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matthewmcc's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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filipa_maia's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I've read this book for the first time in 2011 and now, once again, 10 years later. The first time, it was a solid 5 stars... now, with a different maturity, I'll give it 4 stars because, despite all the blood and violence, is so young, innocent and pure.

I really like this story: a society divided into factions, young people having to choose where they want to spend the rest of their lives (knowing that if they choose a different faction than the one they born in it means having no more connections with their families and friends)... it is so cruel, such a difficult decision for 16 year olds to make. Even after they choose their faction, there are still the risk of not acing the tests and become Factionless (yikes!).

I really would like to know how different factions treat, and process, their new members. Since Tris chooses the Dauntless we never knows what happens in the other factions (and my curiosity kicks in).

This book is fun and really enjoyable. The characters are interesting and relatable - even the bad ones - and I rediscover my crush on Four (but it feels kinda creepy now, that I'm 30 years old... oh well!).

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