I started reading the Divergent series while poolside in Vegas. Vegas is another post or maybe a never post since it is Vegas. So why Divergent? A month ago, I finally got my The Hunger Games series back from my godbrother. I immediately re-read them, again, and again. So yes, I re-read them 3X. Obviously, the series is a fast read and I can be obsessive about knowing every single detail. After the third re-reading, I wished I could go back and start The Hunger Games trilogy without knowing anything. It is rare that I want to re-read books. The only other time it has happened to me is with the Harry Potter series. This of course says a lot about me. I like simplistic books whose deeper meanings are to be discovered. In lieu of reading Harry Potter over again, I researched some new book series. I had very narrow criteria: there will be no years long waiting for the book series' end (learned my lesson from Harry Potter), no love triangles (there is a reason why I don't read chick lit), and finally, most importantly, it must be well-reviewed. I vaguely remembered something about a movie named Divergent. I learned Divergent was based on a book also named Divergent. Within an hour, I had ordered Divergent and its sequel Insurgent from Amazon. The final book Allegiant will be published in October.
Divergent revolves around a strong-willed 16 year old female living in a post-apocalyptic world. Sounds familiar? The world is divided into 5 factions: Abnegation, Dauntless, Erudite, Candor, and Amity. I will withhold describing each faction for the simple reason the author Veronica Roth also does not explicitly describe the factions: reading the books gives a better idea on the faction purpose/ideal than the definition of the word. Roth has stated she picked unfamiliar words for the faction names so that people would not be predisposed to think of a faction a certain way. The protagonist, Tris, is divergent suggesting she could belong to multiple factions. This uniqueness makes her death a certainty until a few people sacrifice their lives for her. Some die because of Tris's desire to live. To say more would require a lot of explanation and make this blog post way tooo long. There is a male, Four, whose fighting skills and love for Tris save her repeatedly. Insurgent brings the series long mystery out into the open. Allegiant is anxiously awaited by many and will probably not disappoint.
I feel confident Allegiant will be good because of the strength of Divergent and Insurgent. Unlike The Hunger Games series, whose bleakest book is the last book MockingJay, Divergent will probably be harshest book of the series. The deaths (yes, plural) experienced in Divergent are heart-breaking and the guilt destroys Tris for most of Insurgent. However, the big mystery reveal of Insurgent sets Allegiant up to be chaotic. Roth stated in ComicCon that Allegient will have points of view from Tris and Four (Divergent and Insurgent were from Tris's point of view) which is intriguing. Does Tris die? Does Four die? Why does everyone need to die????
In many ways, Divergent is subpar to The Hunger Games. There are some inconsistencies within the series and the editing could be sharper. However, I would say Divergent is more ambitious. This is Roth's first book series and it shows. A veteran writer would never attempt something with this magnitude. I'm excited to see what happens and will admit to being optimistic for a happy-ish ending. October can't come soon enough.
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