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A review by theespressoedition
Divergent by Veronica Roth
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-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
5.0
Well, well, well, look who picked up Divergent for the first time in nearly ten years. This gal! I just loved this story with all my heart when I read it back in high school, so it was fun to reread it and see what stood out to me this time around.
I gave the book 4 stars originally but bumped it up to 5 after this reread. I was blown away by Veronica Roth's writing and the true emotional rollercoaster I went on while I was reading! I'm glad I did a buddy-read, because I kept having to set the book down and just express all my feelings - of which there were many.
There were a couple of little things that I found odd as I read this time:
- if Tris and Caleb are both participating in the choosing, which you must do at 16, but Caleb is technically older (mentioned in the first chapter) then... how are they both 16? I mean, did Mrs. Prior just have almost-twins somehow? I wish this had been touched on a little more because that's confusing. I'm thinking they should've just been twins.
- why, oh why is the "age difference" between Tris and Four talked about so many times? He's 2 years older. That's not an age gap. That's literally normal. If he was like 15 years older, then it would be a reason to talk. But it's literally brought up multiple times and I think it's super bizarre - especially because there's nothing mentioned about how it's normal for people to marry at the same age or anything like that throughout the rest of the book. Nothing that gives us a reason to think 2 years is unusual.
Okay, so that's really it as far as "that's weird" things that I noticed. Everything else was just incredible. I forgot how easy this book was to read and how much it keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. One thing that was crazy to me was how you don't even know the reason for the story itself until the last few chapters, and then it's like "BAM! EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING BUT YOU GOTTA READ THE SEQUEL TO FIND OUT WHAT THAT EVERYTHING IS!" It actually left me genuinely excited to pick up the next book again, even though I already know what's going to happen!
I gave the book 4 stars originally but bumped it up to 5 after this reread. I was blown away by Veronica Roth's writing and the true emotional rollercoaster I went on while I was reading! I'm glad I did a buddy-read, because I kept having to set the book down and just express all my feelings - of which there were many.
There were a couple of little things that I found odd as I read this time:
- if Tris and Caleb are both participating in the choosing, which you must do at 16, but Caleb is technically older (mentioned in the first chapter) then... how are they both 16? I mean, did Mrs. Prior just have almost-twins somehow? I wish this had been touched on a little more because that's confusing. I'm thinking they should've just been twins.
- why, oh why is the "age difference" between Tris and Four talked about so many times? He's 2 years older. That's not an age gap. That's literally normal. If he was like 15 years older, then it would be a reason to talk. But it's literally brought up multiple times and I think it's super bizarre - especially because there's nothing mentioned about how it's normal for people to marry at the same age or anything like that throughout the rest of the book. Nothing that gives us a reason to think 2 years is unusual.
Okay, so that's really it as far as "that's weird" things that I noticed. Everything else was just incredible. I forgot how easy this book was to read and how much it keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. One thing that was crazy to me was how you don't even know the reason for the story itself until the last few chapters, and then it's like "BAM! EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING BUT YOU GOTTA READ THE SEQUEL TO FIND OUT WHAT THAT EVERYTHING IS!" It actually left me genuinely excited to pick up the next book again, even though I already know what's going to happen!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Vomit and Injury/Injury detail