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A review by autumn_sunfire
Divergent by Veronica Roth
3.0
I read this book over a year ago and for reasons inexplicable to myself am now suffering the urge to write a review.
First up: I liked things about this book. I haven't read a lot of dystopian, so I wasn't bothered by the similarities other reviewers complain about. I found the prose, while not exceptional, strong and even gripping, particularly when building tension. Whatever else, Veronica Roth can tell a story. Tris bothered me sometimes, but her voice was easy to follow and I wanted to see what happened to her.
That said, the faction concept was shaky at best. I rolled my eyes and accepted it for the sake of the plot, but really, I mean really, if you're writing actual people, EVERYBODY would be Divergent. Maybe that's where she's eventually going with the series? Idk? I don't plan to read on and find out.
Sometimes the bad things that happened honestly felt gratuitous. I'm all for books wrestling with deep/dark subjects, but this book didn't do that... it was kind of more like, "And now this bad thing happened, and now that we've made your hair stand on end and let Tris have a breakdown we're going to move on." The innuendoes and touchy-feely romance also got a little bit much for me.
Speaking of the lovey-dovey... Tris and Four's romance does not bother me, as a romance. Sure, he's her teacher, but for real, they're just kids experiencing the hormones. A two-year difference is not creepy. What bothers me is that Four is an instructor for these trainees at his age of eighteen. Like... I don't care how special he is, wouldn't they pick somebody with more experience? To me that feels implausible.
The thing that lowered my opinion of this book most, however, was that a character dies who should absolutely, for the sake of story, themes, and readers, not have died.
To sum up: Divergent is a book with a lot of sketchy areas that I managed to moderately enjoy despite the holes. But I have no interest in reading on.
First up: I liked things about this book. I haven't read a lot of dystopian, so I wasn't bothered by the similarities other reviewers complain about. I found the prose, while not exceptional, strong and even gripping, particularly when building tension. Whatever else, Veronica Roth can tell a story. Tris bothered me sometimes, but her voice was easy to follow and I wanted to see what happened to her.
That said, the faction concept was shaky at best. I rolled my eyes and accepted it for the sake of the plot, but really, I mean really, if you're writing actual people, EVERYBODY would be Divergent. Maybe that's where she's eventually going with the series? Idk? I don't plan to read on and find out.
Sometimes the bad things that happened honestly felt gratuitous. I'm all for books wrestling with deep/dark subjects, but this book didn't do that... it was kind of more like, "And now this bad thing happened, and now that we've made your hair stand on end and let Tris have a breakdown we're going to move on." The innuendoes and touchy-feely romance also got a little bit much for me.
Speaking of the lovey-dovey... Tris and Four's romance does not bother me, as a romance. Sure, he's her teacher, but for real, they're just kids experiencing the hormones. A two-year difference is not creepy. What bothers me is that Four is an instructor for these trainees at his age of eighteen. Like... I don't care how special he is, wouldn't they pick somebody with more experience? To me that feels implausible.
The thing that lowered my opinion of this book most, however, was that a character dies who should absolutely, for the sake of story, themes, and readers, not have died.
Spoiler
The mom's death was good. It served a purpose, it completed Tris's arc, it was poignant and well-executed and it actually shot my opinion of the book UP considerably. But her father's death was none of that. It effectively cheapened the effect of her mom's death, and that is just a no. N-O, no. Besides, I loved what was happening with her dad. It wasn't even finished and she just kicked him off the charts. It felt like a lazy way out of the complex relationship issues that I was genuinely looking forward to see unfold and resolve. Couldn't the author have at least waited a book? Or did she just want to get all parental authority out of the way so this could be proper YA? Either way, I was left feeling cheated and punched in the gut (not in a good way).To sum up: Divergent is a book with a lot of sketchy areas that I managed to moderately enjoy despite the holes. But I have no interest in reading on.