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meekoh's review against another edition
3.0
Re-reading a classic YA dystopian as an adult. I love this genre of book which makes the plot holes all the more disappointing. Sad to see lazy writing squandering the potential of a great read.
The premise of the book is that the lead is a divergent who, if exposed, risks being murdered. Fair enough. So what does our bright brave heroine do?
Does she try to come up with a strategy to hide her divergence? Nope.
Does she try to excel in the simulations by using her divergent talents? Absolutely.
So to be clear, after:
1. Being told by the tattoo artist that her brother was murdered because doing well in the simulations exposed him as a divergent.
2. Overhearing the Erudite leader say simulations are an effective tool to expose divergents.
3. Knowing her final exam is being watched by faction leadership and,
4. Knowing the time of all the other recruits so that she could plan accordingly to not stand out.
What does Tris do during the final exam? Try her hardest to be the best, while using her divergent skills, with no fear of exposing herself.
What? Am I the only one who is super confused by her reaction to all this information we have learned? When she finds out she came in first place, Tris is happy and proud of herself. She expresses no concern about having outed herself. As a reader, this makes me feel crazy. This girl is supposed to be smart.
I am so confused.
The thing that saves Tris?
The author makes the villains as stupid as the hero. This faction of “geniuses”, that are actively hunting divergents, are given every sign that this chick is exactly what they are looking for and they do absolutely frickin nothing. Ask her a couple of mild questions at Erudite headquarters and pack it up. Tattoo lady’s brother was murdered with less evidence but, hey, the plot armor is strong in this one.
At the final showdown the Erudite leader is even like, well, I suspected you all along Tris! Did you? Because you did nothing to avoid this very predictable obstacle, miss supposed genius IQ. Like, you want to brag you knew this was coming but did nothing? What?
This was so avoidable from Janine’s point of view.
Anyways, there was lots of other less egregious writing but this giant plot hole ruined the rest of the story for me. I hate dumb characters. When you feel the characters are being stupid it makes it hard to root for anyone or feel invested in the outcome.
Honourable mentions to:
1. Four randomly being a computer whiz on the side. Luckily, he knows how to shut down a first-of-its-kind complex simulation designed by the highest IQ member of society.
2. Tattoo lady, who is the most convenient character ever. She has first-hand experience with divergence and (in what world does this make sense) is also qualified to give simulation tests for sorting members. Hell of a side job for a tattoo artist.
The premise of the book is that the lead is a divergent who, if exposed, risks being murdered. Fair enough. So what does our bright brave heroine do?
Does she try to come up with a strategy to hide her divergence? Nope.
Does she try to excel in the simulations by using her divergent talents? Absolutely.
So to be clear, after:
1. Being told by the tattoo artist that her brother was murdered because doing well in the simulations exposed him as a divergent.
2. Overhearing the Erudite leader say simulations are an effective tool to expose divergents.
3. Knowing her final exam is being watched by faction leadership and,
4. Knowing the time of all the other recruits so that she could plan accordingly to not stand out.
What does Tris do during the final exam? Try her hardest to be the best, while using her divergent skills, with no fear of exposing herself.
What? Am I the only one who is super confused by her reaction to all this information we have learned? When she finds out she came in first place, Tris is happy and proud of herself. She expresses no concern about having outed herself. As a reader, this makes me feel crazy. This girl is supposed to be smart.
I am so confused.
The thing that saves Tris?
The author makes the villains as stupid as the hero. This faction of “geniuses”, that are actively hunting divergents, are given every sign that this chick is exactly what they are looking for and they do absolutely frickin nothing. Ask her a couple of mild questions at Erudite headquarters and pack it up. Tattoo lady’s brother was murdered with less evidence but, hey, the plot armor is strong in this one.
At the final showdown the Erudite leader is even like, well, I suspected you all along Tris! Did you? Because you did nothing to avoid this very predictable obstacle, miss supposed genius IQ. Like, you want to brag you knew this was coming but did nothing? What?
This was so avoidable from Janine’s point of view.
Anyways, there was lots of other less egregious writing but this giant plot hole ruined the rest of the story for me. I hate dumb characters. When you feel the characters are being stupid it makes it hard to root for anyone or feel invested in the outcome.
Honourable mentions to:
1. Four randomly being a computer whiz on the side. Luckily, he knows how to shut down a first-of-its-kind complex simulation designed by the highest IQ member of society.
2. Tattoo lady, who is the most convenient character ever. She has first-hand experience with divergence and (in what world does this make sense) is also qualified to give simulation tests for sorting members. Hell of a side job for a tattoo artist.
tdasilva26's review against another edition
5.0
So good! I was told I would like this book but it took me a while to get around to it, I love it so much now though and haven’t been able to put it down for the last three days. Amazing characters who had great development throughout the book! The romance was pretty clean and perfect for the main character!
kelli_lynn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
enchantedreads8's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kristen3212's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
4.0
quinnie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
willowsmeanders's review against another edition
3.0
Plot Synopsis
Divergent follows the story of Beatrice Prior. In future Chicago, society has divided people into groups based on their characteristics — Abnegation, the selfless; Amity, the peaceful; Candor, the honest; Dauntless, the brave; and Erudite, the intelligent. At the age of sixteen, people give an aptitude test and get to choose their faction. Beatrice is a Divergent — someone who belongs in multiple factions — for Abnegation (where she was raised), Dauntless, and Erudite. Beatrice goes into Dauntless, renames herself Tris, and begins initiation tests there. Oh, and she falls in love with her instructor, who goes by Four.
THOUGHTS
First thought: it's very much similar to The Hunger Games, one of my favorite books. However, unlike Collins's books, the Divergent premise is poorly written and half-thought out.
Plot
Hardly any glaring issues with the plot, honestly. Mostly some tiny plot holes. On the other hand. . .
World-building
The general concept, premise, and worldbuilding was stupid and poorly-written. In The Hunger Games trilogy, world-building was heavily emphasized and thought-out. Collins explored the idea of an old Roman saying, drawing parallels to history and present society. In Divergent, however, the factions were too one-dimensional. It's like they took one quality and assigned people places where they will stay forever. Look:
Abnegation: selfless people
Candor: honest people
Erudite: smart people
Amity: friendly/peaceful people
Dauntless: brave people
By that logic, everyone should be Divergent, not just Tris. I don't know if Veronica Roth thinks everyone has one characteristic. Don't Abnegation and Amity overlap? Doesn't honesty (Candor) require bravery (Dauntless)? Shouldn't a brave person be Divergent for Dauntless and Candor? Shouldn't kind people be Divergent for Amity and Abnegation? And don't get me started on jobs. The Erudite are in charge of communications? Why not the Candor — who are LITERALLY DEFINED BY HONESTY? Why is Abnegation in charge of healthcare? Why not Erudite, who should know medicine? What does Candor do? What job requires nothing but honesty, other than lawyers? Why does Amity only farm? Couldn't they go into healthcare like Abnegation? Why does everybody do white collar jobs? Why are blue collar jobs for the Factionless? How do people become Factionless, other than failing initiation tests or quitting? Why are the Factionless crazy homeless people? What is so terrible about being Factionless
Now about the Dauntless faction – why do they need to jump onto a moving train? What sort of bravery does it prove? Couldn't the train just stop? Do they do it just to be "cool"? Why is this book so obsessed with being cool? I refuse to buy that people would forget everything their faction stood for. They have f**king MANIFESTOS! Can't they read? The manifestos could at least be discussed. I refuse to believe that no-one would even mention them.
Why the actual f**k does only one faction — Abnegation — form the government? I get that the rest of the factions have representatives, but why Abnegation? Couldn't it be Candor, the people who are actually trustworthy and honest? Actually, why is democracy no longer in place? The American Revolution was fought for this – lack of representation in government. I refuse to buy that a nation which started a war for governmental representation would also relinquish it without second thoughts.
Characters
Tris Prior: USA Today said that Tris would be Katniss Everdeen's replacement. Yeah, and Bella Swan's the new Elizabeth Bennet.
Tris is very poorly written. She is retconned again and again, and is just a sulky b**ch for no reason. Katniss had a reason to be sulky and angry — she was the active breadwinner in her family, in a very impoverished district. Hell, her whole family nearly starved to death at one point, and she became the breadwinner at eleven. Tris was well-fed and lived a comfortable life with both of her parents. She was also very flat. I felt more connected to Katniss in twelve chapters than to Tris the whole book.
Four/Tobias Eaton: Eh. . . I don't see anything likable about Tobias. He was hardly written as anything other than "mysterious instructor with tragic backstory for girl to fall in love with". Also flat and dull.
Tris's friends: I liked Tris's friends more than her. Christina seemed so nice and lovely, and Will was smart and likable. Al also provided great insight, and his betrayal, brief atonement, and subsequent suicide was one of the best moments in the book – its description and the moral dilemma it presents was great to think over. And Tris having to kill a brainwashed Will was heartbreaking.
Writing style
Nothing noteworthy. Very laconic and straightforward, but not particularly charming.
Romance
There's a romance between Tris and Tobias, and I don't honestly dig it. Both of them are as likable as dead slugs. And the romance was also not that great. It was mostly predictable, forgettable, and you could do without it.
Overall, Divergent was a disappointment. It has one or two shiny moments of glory, but mostly it is boring and lacks proper thought, and is weirdly obsessed with guns and being "cool". I'd suggest you pick up The Hunger Games rather than this.
candicen423's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It look me quite awhile to get around to reading this. I definitely don’t regret reading it, but I don’t it quite deserves the level of hype surrounding it. Since so many other reviewers were surprised by this, don’t go into it expecting it to be like The Hunger Games! Yes, they most definitely have similarities- society is split up into communities (factions, districts, same difference), the government systems are sooooo very messed up, and there is one scene nearing the end of the book that reminded me of the scene in Mockingjay when Peeta’s in the hospital, but that’s all I’m going to say out of fear of spoilers. But that’s about where the similarities end. The actual plot of this book takes a completely different turn which I enjoyed quite a bit. I’ve heard that the quality of the books deteriorates quite a bit but I do think I’m at least going to try to read Insurgent.
dannic227's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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