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A review by anovelstart
Divergent by Veronica Roth
5.0
Goodreads has been trying to recommend this book to me for about two years. I've refused to read it for this long because the blurb sounded so boring! Dystopia really isn't my cup of tea, it's all doom and gloom, but after watching the movie... well, things changed. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the book, this book that Goodreads has been trying to shove at me for the past two years! Turns out Goodreads knows my tastes better than I do. It was amazing, a breath of fresh air!
The world in this book is split into factions, and there's a saying among the people "faction over blood". If you leave your family's faction and join another when you turn sixteen (you only get one chance to choose), your new faction is your family. It's like our saying, "blood is ticker than water", meaning family is closer than friends, but twisted so your faction is closer than your blood family. It's an extremely tough world to survive in, you choose your faction but they could still reject you if they don't think you fit... then that's it, you're factionless. You have no meaning, no duties, no family of any kind. It's like being homeless, all alone to fend for yourself.
The world this book is set in totally gripped me. The main faction focused on in this book is the Dauntless, the brave ones. It's core meaning has been twisted over time so rather than simple acts showing bravery, cruelty is instead. Every faction has its downsides and the book does show this very well, you're repulsed by what you read this or that faction is doing. But the Dauntless are meant to be trained soldiers, keepers of the peace! Most of it comes down to principles and morals really, which makes some parts of the book really frustrating (in a you want to yell at the characters and slap them kind of way).
I found the characters very realistic. Due to the nature of the book we see the characters evolving as they move along their initiation. I like that we're walked through this in the main storyline because it gives us a better idea of what makes the different characters tick. I like the depth Roth has put into them. I think the best books have realistic characters that are easy to relate to. In this book a very humble girl evolves into someone quite daring. Tris is intelligent and bold, but also cautious due to her upbringing.
Needless to say from all of the above, the description is enticing. It reels you in! You can't create such a realistic world and characters without having the description to back it up.
I can easily say I couldn't fault the book. The movie was good, the book was even better. It's aimed at teenagers but I still enjoyed it. It even has a romance plot weaving through the story, nothing too saucy but that makes it even better. Forget the dystopia factor in the book, if you like daring adventure novels with a twist of sci-fi, you'd love this book.
If you like my review please visit my book blog at: http://a-novel-start.blogspot.co.uk
The world in this book is split into factions, and there's a saying among the people "faction over blood". If you leave your family's faction and join another when you turn sixteen (you only get one chance to choose), your new faction is your family. It's like our saying, "blood is ticker than water", meaning family is closer than friends, but twisted so your faction is closer than your blood family. It's an extremely tough world to survive in, you choose your faction but they could still reject you if they don't think you fit... then that's it, you're factionless. You have no meaning, no duties, no family of any kind. It's like being homeless, all alone to fend for yourself.
The world this book is set in totally gripped me. The main faction focused on in this book is the Dauntless, the brave ones. It's core meaning has been twisted over time so rather than simple acts showing bravery, cruelty is instead. Every faction has its downsides and the book does show this very well, you're repulsed by what you read this or that faction is doing. But the Dauntless are meant to be trained soldiers, keepers of the peace! Most of it comes down to principles and morals really, which makes some parts of the book really frustrating (in a you want to yell at the characters and slap them kind of way).
I found the characters very realistic. Due to the nature of the book we see the characters evolving as they move along their initiation. I like that we're walked through this in the main storyline because it gives us a better idea of what makes the different characters tick. I like the depth Roth has put into them. I think the best books have realistic characters that are easy to relate to. In this book a very humble girl evolves into someone quite daring. Tris is intelligent and bold, but also cautious due to her upbringing.
Needless to say from all of the above, the description is enticing. It reels you in! You can't create such a realistic world and characters without having the description to back it up.
I can easily say I couldn't fault the book. The movie was good, the book was even better. It's aimed at teenagers but I still enjoyed it. It even has a romance plot weaving through the story, nothing too saucy but that makes it even better. Forget the dystopia factor in the book, if you like daring adventure novels with a twist of sci-fi, you'd love this book.
If you like my review please visit my book blog at: http://a-novel-start.blogspot.co.uk