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blakelyschmidt's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
This book tore me apart. I found myself audibly yelling at the characters as if I could change their minds. I threw the device I was reading on multiple times because I could not bear to continue on. It hurt me in ways I cannot begin to understand and I will not be the same again for a long time. I don’t know if a book has ever made me feel so much, or ever will again. At the end, I found myself unable to stop crying and get over it. I grieved over every loss as if I truly knew the character because the incredible writing made me feel like I did. I also had moments of pure joy where I could not stop smiling and laughing. I cannot begin to express my emotions and grief. I will mourn these characters forever. My only critique is that sometimes the changing perspectives confused me, but other than that it was perfect. I was shocked multiple times and could not begin to wrap my head around the surprises. If you are looking for your heart to be filled, then ripped out then I beg you to pick up this book and don’t stop reading till it’s over. I am overwhelmed with emotion and I know you will be too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Gaslighting, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War
Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Medical content, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Medical trauma
It was extremely violent because it is a dystopian war, but the story line is worth enduring the blood if you can.thejadylady's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Grief, Death, Violence, and Gun violence
elija_20's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? No
5.0
I actually think this broke me. There’s literally nothing else to say. This whole trilogy has been amazing and I’ve never loved a series more and now that it’s over I don’t really know what to do with myself. That’s really dramatic but it’s true. Every character is so carefully thought out and the plot is so layered but written so well that I was never confused and spent every moment just in awe of the world Veronica Roth created. I would recommend this to anyone, but bring tissues!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Gun violence, Gore, Abandonment, Violence, Death, War, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
melissageritas's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, Violence, and War
Minor: Kidnapping and Drug use
alsoiread's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment
misslexisaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
I'm so glad I read the books after discovering the series through the films. I am so in love with these books. The characters are so complex with real struggles, Roth does an amazing job of avoiding "good vs bad" and really explores the idea of good people bad choices and the difficulties of knowing what the right thing even is in such hard situations.
I cried my eyes out for the last several chapters!
I cried my eyes out for the last several chapters!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Homophobia and War
katelynnreads's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, War, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
melsage1823's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
4.0
I'm going to keep this review spoiler free but let's just say that I have so many mixed feelings due to my love for the first book and dislike for the second book. It made what I hated about the second book way more enjoyable.
First I'll quickly get my spoiler free dislikes out of the way. I think this book should have been longer as I only cried at the major character death at the end of the book because it had been earned and developed. The rest of the deaths were so random when we had barley anytime with those characters. It felt like Roth was trying to trim down the cast for the sake of it.
Secondly I really disliked the random lengths of the chapters. I always say this but in order to make your book accessible its important to have the book printed in a large print and that the chapters should be an even length. Some of the chapters especially at the end could have been squished into one chapter definitely.
I like consistency in story and chapter lengths in my book and this certainly didn't have that.
I like consistency in story and chapter lengths in my book and this certainly didn't have that.
Finally I feel like the revelations in this book have been plucked out of thin air from the second book. I was shocked and the revelations but it felt really cheap to whip up this Bureau compound plot out of thin air.
Apart from that I found this book mostly an improvement from the mid second book in the trilogy. I was hoping that after the second book this third book would have me more enthusiastic and apart from the beginning it mostly kept me hooked.
I adore the pov switches between Tris and Tobias in this book as it helped bring forth a lot of impact to the story and made things less one sided. Looking back I think doing multiple Tris and Tobias povs for the second book would have made it better for me. It also helped develop Tobias and made him more than the typical love interest as we get to see his relationships and emotions more.
Now I actually loved Tris's controversial ending in this book as its such a contrast from the stereotypical we overthrew a government let's live in peace and celebrate.
Finally the messaging was extremely heart warming. The fact that just because people tell you that you are broken doesn't mean you are. This is what I have had to learn in a world that hates me as a neurodivergent person. It's so important to share that difference is important and that Eugenics rhetoric is completely wrong.
Overall an improvement from the second book in the trilogy that will definitely leave you feeling emotional despite its flaws.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Murder, Death, and Grief
psliz's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
three books in for the worst ending ever
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Gun violence, and War
Moderate: Kidnapping and Drug use
Minor: Alcohol
readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.0
The writing is better in this one than in the previous too, you can see the growth, but this one is far less exciting than Insurgent and Divergent.
This one is the farthest off from the movies and I think the book is slightly better than movie where I’d disagree with the previous two. There is more character development, a variety of characters, and I think where the characters end up is better than the movie. However, the lead up to it was very boring. I think the author could have done more to make the Bureau grander and more descriptive so it felt exciting rather than just another location that had similar living conditions.
With the switching POVs, I know why it was done, but I felt like there wasn’t a distinct change between Tobias and Tris. I had to keep checking which POV I was in because I couldn’t remember or tell the difference. Their thoughts tend to be very similar, even when they have different opinions. They process emotions similarly, sort of bouncing between several different emotions and thoughts so it never feels distinct and cohesive. I don’t have an issue with a variety of thoughts but it didn’t help trying to know which POV I was reading.
Some major differences in this one to the movie were how immediate things became, like the development of the Allegiant with Cara and Johanna in charge, Uriah having a much bigger character arc, more characters in general like Amar and George, Tris’ mom’s journal and her journey and relationship with David, Tris being directly aware of what the Bureau had done and their involvement with Abnegation’s demise, Four being involved in a plan behind Tris’ back and them nearly breaking up, Tris going to the fringe, Peter wanting to reset, and just the entire ending being so different. Once again, I found Four to be less tolerable in this one than in the movies. Especially with telling Tris she was jealous of Nita because she’s pretty. I didn’t care for that.
I will say, that although I have harsh criticisms, I cried a lot. I don’t know what it is but despite me not liking these characters all that much I still end up caring about them. What I will also say is there are elements in here that are uncomfortable because of relating to real life, like Pure genes and such, and I know it is a critical take, but I imagine some communities will take a bit of an offense to it. Aside from that which I feel some uncertainty about, I think Veronica Roth was ahead of the times in a lot of her writing. Given the queer rep, although not great by today’s standards, and disability rep, and not being fatphobic or such in the stories. I feel like a lot of authors at that time had so many incredibly offensive things in their books because it was more “acceptable” to be in books, but this one is a bit easier to stomach than most. That is not to disregard some other issues in the book, but I think it did fairly well in terms of comparison.
This one is the farthest off from the movies and I think the book is slightly better than movie where I’d disagree with the previous two. There is more character development, a variety of characters, and I think where the characters end up is better than the movie. However, the lead up to it was very boring. I think the author could have done more to make the Bureau grander and more descriptive so it felt exciting rather than just another location that had similar living conditions.
With the switching POVs, I know why it was done, but I felt like there wasn’t a distinct change between Tobias and Tris. I had to keep checking which POV I was in because I couldn’t remember or tell the difference. Their thoughts tend to be very similar, even when they have different opinions. They process emotions similarly, sort of bouncing between several different emotions and thoughts so it never feels distinct and cohesive. I don’t have an issue with a variety of thoughts but it didn’t help trying to know which POV I was reading.
I will say, that although I have harsh criticisms, I cried a lot. I don’t know what it is but despite me not liking these characters all that much I still end up caring about them. What I will also say is there are elements in here that are uncomfortable because of relating to real life, like Pure genes and such, and I know it is a critical take, but I imagine some communities will take a bit of an offense to it. Aside from that which I feel some uncertainty about, I think Veronica Roth was ahead of the times in a lot of her writing. Given the queer rep, although not great by today’s standards, and disability rep, and not being fatphobic or such in the stories. I feel like a lot of authors at that time had so many incredibly offensive things in their books because it was more “acceptable” to be in books, but this one is a bit easier to stomach than most. That is not to disregard some other issues in the book, but I think it did fairly well in terms of comparison.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, War, and Mental illness
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Homophobia, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts