Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
I picked up this book because I saw the movie trailer. I love The Hunger Games (everything in it except the ending) and was willing to read another YA distopian universe story.
I liked Tris a lot. I adored Four. I'm totally going to suffer watching the movie, because like Twilight, I have pictures of them in my head - and the actors in the trailer ain't them :) But hey, they could surprise me.
No whiny, moony eyed girl. No love triangle. What's to hate?
The movie is one big initiation -- but it was fun to read. I think the Dauntless kids are crazy and must live short lives, but it sounds like a fun world.
Looking forward to watching to movie now and just got books 2 and 3 in hand.
I liked Tris a lot. I adored Four. I'm totally going to suffer watching the movie, because like Twilight, I have pictures of them in my head - and the actors in the trailer ain't them :) But hey, they could surprise me.
No whiny, moony eyed girl. No love triangle. What's to hate?
The movie is one big initiation -- but it was fun to read. I think the Dauntless kids are crazy and must live short lives, but it sounds like a fun world.
Looking forward to watching to movie now and just got books 2 and 3 in hand.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
loved it! About halfway through the book on a Sunday I felt like I couldn't finish it. I ended up finishing it that Wednesday. my friends had recommended it to me. One of my friends thought I knew and told me what happens at the end of Allegiant. That won't stop me from reading it though. I'm really excited to see what happens in-between now and then.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Les audacieux sont trop cons mdr
I know I rated it four stars instead of five, but I just want to say right away - I loved this book. I really did. I thought it was exciting and refreshing. I thought throughout the book that I would definitely be giving this a full five stars. But I just couldn't do it.
Here is what I liked:
1) Tris aka "Our heroine." First of all, I just flat out adore the name Tris. I liked her for all her strenghs and weaknesses alike. I like how she was conflicted and not perfect. I liked that she wasn't a badass right away and really grew into the girl she was by the end of the book through her experiences with the Dauntless (but also using lessons learned from her past). I liked that her thoughts didn't 100% revolve around boys.
2) Four aka "The Love Interest." And the love interest with good reason. He is good looking in what I imagine to be a brooding way. He is brave and masculine but not a brute. He is intelligent and mysterious. My only complaint is learning his name. I really just want him to be referred to as Four only. It's so much cooler.
3) The Violence. I will admit I cringed a few times after some of the unexpected violence. But I thought some of it was creative even if it was a little gruesome. Unfortunately, after so much of it, I felt a little immune. Like, "Oh, he just got shot? Big whoop. That's nothin'."
4) The Factions. There are five factions (you can read in description of the book above). While I don't think they were perfect, nor could I remember what a couple of them meant and had to keep flipping back, I thought the idea was good. Was it a little Hunger Games-esque? Maybe. I liked that they could choose to leave their faction, though. I also liked the idea of the factionless...people just wandering around with the craptastic jobs because they couldn't hack it in one of the factions. Too bad, so sad (geez...maybe I should be Dauntless!).
Here is what I didn't like:
The last 5% of the book (I'm going off of Kindle percent). I felt like it was all thrown together like a bad action movie.
We must find the processor! REBOOT! REBOOT!
PING! PINGPINGPING! WHIZZZZZZZZZZZZ! OOOMPH! HE SHOT ME!
We rode the train into the sunset. I didn't know where we would go or what we would do. All I knew is that we would be together.
(note this is all simply my interpretation)
To sum it up -
For most of the book, I felt like this:
But by the end I felt a little bit like this:
Still a solid four stars.
And did I mention I still really love this book? Because I do!
Here is what I liked:
1) Tris aka "Our heroine." First of all, I just flat out adore the name Tris. I liked her for all her strenghs and weaknesses alike. I like how she was conflicted and not perfect. I liked that she wasn't a badass right away and really grew into the girl she was by the end of the book through her experiences with the Dauntless (but also using lessons learned from her past). I liked that her thoughts didn't 100% revolve around boys.
2) Four aka "The Love Interest." And the love interest with good reason. He is good looking in what I imagine to be a brooding way. He is brave and masculine but not a brute. He is intelligent and mysterious. My only complaint is learning his name. I really just want him to be referred to as Four only. It's so much cooler.
3) The Violence. I will admit I cringed a few times after some of the unexpected violence. But I thought some of it was creative even if it was a little gruesome. Unfortunately, after so much of it, I felt a little immune. Like, "Oh, he just got shot? Big whoop. That's nothin'."
4) The Factions. There are five factions (you can read in description of the book above). While I don't think they were perfect, nor could I remember what a couple of them meant and had to keep flipping back, I thought the idea was good. Was it a little Hunger Games-esque? Maybe. I liked that they could choose to leave their faction, though. I also liked the idea of the factionless...people just wandering around with the craptastic jobs because they couldn't hack it in one of the factions. Too bad, so sad (geez...maybe I should be Dauntless!).
Here is what I didn't like:
The last 5% of the book (I'm going off of Kindle percent). I felt like it was all thrown together like a bad action movie.
We must find the processor! REBOOT! REBOOT!
PING! PINGPINGPING! WHIZZZZZZZZZZZZ! OOOMPH! HE SHOT ME!
We rode the train into the sunset. I didn't know where we would go or what we would do. All I knew is that we would be together.
(note this is all simply my interpretation)
To sum it up -
For most of the book, I felt like this:
But by the end I felt a little bit like this:
Still a solid four stars.
And did I mention I still really love this book? Because I do!
This was not as good as I remember it being. The characters are flat and the romance is uneventful. But all in all it is still such an amazing book
sad
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
eview: Divergent by Veronica Roth
After much prodding by my 16-year-old, I relented and read this YA dystopian fantasy thriller. I'm glad I did, though this novel initially strikes me as a cross between the sorting hat scene in the Harry Potter series and The Hunger Games--equal parts segregation and survivalist brutality.
Amid the typical teen identity crisis of much YA reading fare, there is a simplicity in this story that is hard to discredit. And, it is this simplicity that commanded my attention.
Three Things I Like:
1. Faction Manifestos: The inclusion of the five factions' manifestos at the end of the novel was quite a treat. In content and in form, these manifestos attempt to showcase the best of each faction's ideologies, containing a lot of virtue even as we have read of that virtue falling apart within the novel's narrative.
2. Narrative use of setting: Roth's use of the city's trains, the buildings, and landscape is compelling and dynamic.
3. Rise of the Underdog: Tris's empowerment through sheer determination, well and of course her "divergence," is part of the American desire for the underdog to triumph.
Three Things I Dislike:
1. Things that feel "forgotten": Although there are adequate explanations about why Tris's family disintegrates and what divergence is, I can't help but want to know more. I feel like these are integral parts of the overall story and I sure hope they resurface in the following two installments of this trilogy.
2. Fast pace: I was going to list this as something I like, and the truth is I do like the fast pace of the novel. However, I cannot help but feel that part of the quick pace is due to the several times I skipped through narrative parts that weren't as compelling as other parts.
3. Tunnel-visioned narrative: Although we get hints of what is going on in at least three of the five factions, two are fairly well left out of the narrative. I suppose I could have placed this comment in #1 above, but I felt that this was due to the fact that we really only see what is going on through Tris's eyes and engagements. Hints of what Amity and Candor are doing would have made for a richer sidestory, perhaps through a similar means as the Erudite newspaper Molly and Peter rub Tris with.
Overall, I am caught up in the Divergent fervor, although to a lesser degree than my son and his friends. I've already stolen away from him the next installment, Insurgent, and am looking forward to reading time later in the day. I'm not sure I will want to see the movie due out early next year, but I'm certainly going to read the entire trilogy.
After much prodding by my 16-year-old, I relented and read this YA dystopian fantasy thriller. I'm glad I did, though this novel initially strikes me as a cross between the sorting hat scene in the Harry Potter series and The Hunger Games--equal parts segregation and survivalist brutality.
Amid the typical teen identity crisis of much YA reading fare, there is a simplicity in this story that is hard to discredit. And, it is this simplicity that commanded my attention.
Three Things I Like:
1. Faction Manifestos: The inclusion of the five factions' manifestos at the end of the novel was quite a treat. In content and in form, these manifestos attempt to showcase the best of each faction's ideologies, containing a lot of virtue even as we have read of that virtue falling apart within the novel's narrative.
2. Narrative use of setting: Roth's use of the city's trains, the buildings, and landscape is compelling and dynamic.
3. Rise of the Underdog: Tris's empowerment through sheer determination, well and of course her "divergence," is part of the American desire for the underdog to triumph.
Three Things I Dislike:
1. Things that feel "forgotten": Although there are adequate explanations about why Tris's family disintegrates and what divergence is, I can't help but want to know more. I feel like these are integral parts of the overall story and I sure hope they resurface in the following two installments of this trilogy.
2. Fast pace: I was going to list this as something I like, and the truth is I do like the fast pace of the novel. However, I cannot help but feel that part of the quick pace is due to the several times I skipped through narrative parts that weren't as compelling as other parts.
3. Tunnel-visioned narrative: Although we get hints of what is going on in at least three of the five factions, two are fairly well left out of the narrative. I suppose I could have placed this comment in #1 above, but I felt that this was due to the fact that we really only see what is going on through Tris's eyes and engagements. Hints of what Amity and Candor are doing would have made for a richer sidestory, perhaps through a similar means as the Erudite newspaper Molly and Peter rub Tris with.
Overall, I am caught up in the Divergent fervor, although to a lesser degree than my son and his friends. I've already stolen away from him the next installment, Insurgent, and am looking forward to reading time later in the day. I'm not sure I will want to see the movie due out early next year, but I'm certainly going to read the entire trilogy.