Allegiant (Book Review)

Allegiant concludes the story of Tris Prior. It isn't the best book in the series but it does a good job at finishing major storylines.

Insurgent (Book Review)

Insurgent expands the world first introduced in Divergent. Tris learns that the world she knows is much more complicated than she ever expected.

Divergent (Book Review)

Divergent dives into a post-apocalyptic world where people are sorted into Factions. Tris begins her journey into adulthood and finds herself in the middle of a war.

Allegiant (Veronica Roth)

Title: Allegiant

Series: The Divergent Trilogy

Author: Veronica Roth

Released: 2013

Rating: 4/5

Basic Plot: For Tris Prior, the society based on factions she knew and believed in was destroyed by corruption of power, greed, loss, and violence. So when she got a chance to see and experience the world beyond which she knows, she is ready for that. Maybe there, she and Tobias will find a life which is much more easy and simple, free of pains, lies, and betrayals.

But her new surroundings are much more dangerous and difficult than her previous one. With the discovery of new shocking truths her world changes again and she has to fight her way out of it.
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Two Points of View
Now having multiple narrators in a book is a great thing to have. Not only do you expand the subplots that can happen, but you can show how different characters view the same event. Roth doesn't use this to good effect in Allegiant except to expand subplots. The different viewpoints is also good for an event near the end of the book which I won't talk about as it's a huge spoiler. The biggest problem about the different viewpoints is the fact that you can't really tell Tris' point of view from Tobias'. I was very glad that it wasn't just me making sure of who was narrating the chapters.

Explanation for What Happened in the First Two Books
Insurgent left us all with a need for the ending to be explained. What did it mean? The ending of Insurgent is explained, in detail, in Allegiant. Even what being divergent means is explained. While some might find it underwhelming I can say that it ties into what we already know about being divergent.

Eugenics
This book talks about that making people 'perfect' is not the way to go solving things. That if you get wrapped up in making the perfect race that you leave the important issues unsolved and put down those that are worth just as much as you. I feel this is an important subject to talk about and glad a YA book decided to discuss it. While a lot of people have said it's an allegory for racism I saw another angle. I have Asperger's Syndrome and other things that make it hard for me to tell what's happening outside of me and inside of me. So I took the eugenics theme to discuss how people like me aren't worth less than others just because our genes are different. But it really covers the broad subject of anyone who has been hurt by the dangerous 'science' of eugenics.

Final Thoughts
This book is the weakest in the series. It also seems to be set in a much different world than the first two and if it wasn't for the themes connecting Allegiant to Divergent and Insurgent, I wouldn't know what it was doing in this series. The writing is also weaker. I thought it was just me but others could see it too. However, it is good closure to the series. I finished the book and in an hour or two the pain really set in. I am glad that Roth tackled difficult subjects in this book (and at one point a finger is wagged at anti-gay policies) and didn't give us a happy ending. Too often happy endings in YA fiction happen and so the intended audience expects them. I would suggest Allegiant to those who have already read the first two books as you can't really understand this one without reading the first two first.
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Insurgent (Veronica Roth)

Title: Insurgent

Series: The Divergent Trilogy

Author: Veronica Roth

Released: 2012

Rating: 5/5

Basic Plot: Chicago is now at the brink of war. Tris must now do what is right while figuring out who is friend and who is foe.
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Bigger and Better
I will just say 'wow'. Divergent (first book in the trilogy) was awesome but was the first part and, therefore, the setup. Everything expands from the first book here. Tobias/Four's relationship with Tris is explored with many ups and downs (great thing about this, no love triangle in sight!). The reasoning behind Jeanine Matthews' (the leader of the Erudite) plans to mind control the people of Chicago is explained (which made me more understanding of why she did what she did, though still not thinking of her as a good character). Plus there are good characters that turn out to be traitors and bad characters that end up doing good things.

Many Plot Twists
There are many points in this novel where there are plot twists. I won't mention any names here for the sake of keeping this spoiler free as possible. I will say that one made me feel like I was in extreme pain. The reason behind this was because I didn't think the character had it in him/her to do it. Truthfully, I don't think I'll ever get over what that character did and might do in the sequel (which hasn't been officially named yet, I believe). Another plot twist (where it is revealed a character isn't straight) didn't make any impact on me. It didn't really do much for the story.

The Growth of Tris
Tris is recovering from the events of Divergent as more painful events happen in this novel. How she reacts to the grief is sometimes annoying to me. The main thing is when she can't fire a gun (for the majority of the novel). I know Veronica Roth was trying to be realistic but it was still annoying to see a strong female character not being able to fire a gun. That being said, I am proud of her for pursuing truth so she doesn't mess up.

Final Thoughts
Holy flying penguins! This book was just awesome. I read this over 500 page book in two days (the large print, simple words, and shape of the book did help) and I would've read it quicker if I didn't have anything important to do. The twist at this ending will leave you breathless and craving for the final part of the trilogy. I won't mention the twist here (might make a post about it in another post, though) due to it being probably the biggest thing in the trilogy yet far. How big? It will change everything you think you know about the Divergent Universe. Yeah, that big. And I can't wait for it to be fully explained in the final part of this series.

Divergent (Veronica Roth)

Title: Divergent

Series: The Divergent Trilogy

Author: Veronica Roth

Released: 2011

Rating: 5/5

Basic Plot: Beatrice "Tris" Prior leaves her family (and faction) to join another. While going through Initiation she must also deal with her being a Divergent and keeping it a secret.
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A Real Page Turner
I could hardly put this book down. If all I could do all day was read I would've. I admit this review is out later than it should be since once I finished this book I had to start reading Insurgent (the sequel) right away.

Where One Belongs
A theme that this novel covers is where one belongs. Tris is a Divergent (aka someone who can fit into more than one faction) and so she can't tell anyone what she really is. This would be hard enough on its own but she's also a sixteen year old girl who is still growing up. She is trying to make friends as well as defend against enemies (who aren't above killing her). A lot is talked about the different Factions and how they interact with each other. In the Divergent Universe you belong to one of five factions (that dictate how you live your life) or live Factionless (who are basically the Untouchables). This makes fitting in very important.

Treats Young Adults Like Adults
This book is for young adults but it's not gentle at all. There is romance but there are also scenes that are hard to get through. At the end of the book it feels like Veronica Roth has personally beat you up to the brink of death. With that said, I would only recommend the strong willed to read this. It's a great read but you will be disturbed through many parts of this book.

Final Thoughts
I cannot say enough how great this book is. I decided I wanted to read this after I saw its good reception. I admit that I am biased for this book due to liking the dystopian future genre. I got this book as a Christmas gift. There is going to be a movie version released in 2014.