Saturday, April 28, 2012

Divergent - Review


I enjoyed this book immensely! Wow! 
Like many of you, I feel this is one of the BEST BOOKS of 2012!
Just think, I was NOT going to read this book! Had I not, I would have missed out on one of the BEST books of this year! I have to say all the 'hype' about this book swayed me into wanting to read it! As a Fiction reader who does not really get into the Dystopian genre, at first I was not planning on reading this book, as it is one genre I usually don't enjoy only because I have great difficulty envisioning the future in the many different ways this genre can go. However, with this book, I had no trouble at all! So leaving my comfort zone, I HAD to read this book, and I did NOT make a mistake, nor was I disappointed at all. I LOVED THIS BOOK! The action never stopped, the author kept you engaged in the story completely, and there were not any lull's in this book at all. The author spent a lot of time really thinking about the story line as she wrote this book. Something was always going on, and you could not stop turning the pages! I read this book in two days. I did not want to put it down but only for the demands of real life. Darn life! I read the ebook version, and I was just at Amazon and pulled it up to copy and paste the cover of the book, and I noticed this book is 576 pages. NO WAY! I have read some 600 pages books before, but I will admit, I have NEVER been SO entertained as I was with this book ever! I coasted through this book in two days! Other books of this length have taken me forever to read, and to a point where I have gotten bored reading them, but NOT with this book! I never would have guessed this book was that length even while reading it. I was still ready for more! I could and should go through and reread this book a second time as I know there ARE things I probably missed the first time around, and I will read and understand it the second time in a different light, knowing now what I didn't know before I read it. This is that type of book in which you could read it several times, and get more out of it each time you read it. It almost beckons you to read it again!
Since the release of Book 2 in this Trilogy is coming on May 1st, there is a lot of hype going on with all kinds of different types of activities and things in celebration of it. It is called "Insurgent". Book 3 is not yet named. Now I have also learned there will be a movie made of the Trilogy, as well! Yeah!!! We have to wait until 2015, but I am SO glad I am reading these books now because I cannot imagine a movie fitting in all 3 books. There would be no possible way! Everyone always hears the true statement that the book IS always better than the film! I believe in this case this truth will hold up! The neat thing about the movie will be our being able to put some faces and character traits to the characters in the books as we read or reread them. This would hold especially true for the people who see the movie first, then read the books. 
Yes, Veronica Roth, the author, this book being her "DEBUT" NOVEL, (amazing!) makes these books even MORE amazing being she is only 23 years old! Wow! I have read somewhere that when she was in her college classes she was actually writing this book! Heck, after this book, and the next 2 that are coming, AND a movie, who needs college? I believe she already has the art of writing down pat! Roth's creative writing has her set for life! I can also say after this Trilogy is over, people are going to want MORE from her! The demand is here now, imagine after everything else comes out! Wow! It's just amazing! Her writing NEVER bores you. Her writing engages you throughout the book and you do not want to stop reading. I have not quite come across an author who can have so much activity going on, have it to be so believable, and turn a fiction reader who stays away from the dystopian genre to fall madly in love with these books! I truly cannot wait to read Insurgent! She is amazingly talented with her writing! Wow! I think of where her career will be taking her since now she is  only 23 years old, and I just can't imagine it. I get goosebumps! I can see many more books coming from this author as well. She will not be stopping here with this trilogy. Imagine being inside of her head? Wow! ALL the stories that are going on inside of it, this is only the beginning! 
This book starts in futuristic Dystopian Chicago. The main character in this book is Tris (actually Beatrice). Each family belongs to a different Faction, or Government. (Government is not mentioned in the book at all. It is supposed. This is where the adult who is reading this book can enjoy this Young Adult novel as we watch how this 'supposed' government is running and what they control. It is quite interesting to think of a government such as this one. This is what will appeal to the adults reading this book.) Each family lives under one of these 5 Factions. Tris' family happens to be Abnegation.
The 5 Factions are (and I looked up the actual definitions from the dictionary):
Abnegation - To refuse or deny oneself; to serve others before yourself.
Erudite - Great knowledge/scholarly
Candor - State or quality of being frank or open; sincere in speech or expression
Amity - Friendship; peaceful; harmony; peace between nations.
Dauntless - To be different; to deviate.
There is one more area where people can fit into, although it is not a recognized  Faction, and that is to be Divergent. To be Divergent is to not fit into any 'one' of these five Factions, but to fit into a little bit of every one of the five Factions, which Tris, original name Beatrice, seems to fit into. She keeps this to herself, but a few people do eventually notice. Special to Tris, yet also common to a select few others, Divergent is something that I got the feeling that it is not something you really want people to know about.
In the beginning of this book, we learn when teenagers reach the age of 16, each year there is a huge event at school where these 16 year old's choose the Faction they believe they fit into, and this may or may not be what the rest of their family is or was. As the time leads up to this big event, this is when these teens have to make this huge decision which will affect the rest of their lives. What Faction do they believe their lives fit into? This is where on the front cover of the book it says "One choice can transform you". Oh, how true! It is up to each individual to choose what Faction they are going to join before going on stage, cutting themselves with a knife, and dripping their blood into the bowl for the Faction they have chosen. 
I had mentioned Tris. She also has a brother who has turned 16 this year as well, and both of them need to make the huge decision as to which Faction they feel they fit into at this major point in their lives. I felt this was a 'huge' decision to made at such a young age, however, what a better age to become influenced into the Faction they choose because they can learn more about the Faction and slip right into it much more easily at this age than at any other time in their lives. 
Tris deviates away from the Faction she was raised in, which was Abnegation, and she chooses a different Faction other than the one she has been raised in so far. Is this the correct decision for her? Her brother chooses a different Faction than he and Tris was raised, yet different than the one Tris has chosen. How will this work?
Now starts the Initiations! Wow! This is where we think the book is so good already, and it only gets better from here on out! 
We only really learn about the Initiation that Tris has chosen, and not of the others. It is amazing, on the edge of your seat, biting your nails time. I don't want to get to much more into what happens from here on out, as it WILL GIVE SPOILERS and I do NOT want to give spoilers, as it would be very easy to do so from this point on. However, allow me to inform you that her choice of Faction results in a lot of life or death decisions, and IF she can make it through this Initiation, she can make the Faction, or will she?
One of the Initiations of the Dauntless is they are put through simulations of fears they have. Can they face their fears head on? Are they able to face the fears? Can they get through and over their fears? These simulations are very realistic.
Some of the other things the new Dauntless face are their own peers. Can they get along, or can't they.
This book exceeded any expectations I had. There is so much more to this book than the little bit I have just told you about, and believe me, this is only maybe an 1/8 of a fraction of the book. This is a must-read book! Enjoy!
5-Stars + from me!
HIGHLY recommended!
(I chose to read this book on my own for my own enjoyment. I was not asked to review this book for anyone.)


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GOOD LUCK!
ORDER YOUR COPY OF DIVERGENT HERE! 
"SCROLL DOWN" TO PRE-ORDER INSURGENT HERE!

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY OF INSURGENT HERE! I've got mine, do you have yours? Get it NOW!


3 comments:

  1. Hey Laurie,

    I'm glad you enjoyed the book that much. It is a long read but It's so worthwhile right? xD If you want you can read my review here http://www.bookmark-reviews.blogspot.ca/2012/07/divergent-review.html

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    Replies
    1. Hi Nic!
      Thanks for the comment about Divergent you just left!
      I don't know what you mean when you wrote xD?
      You suggest I read your review and I did.
      Anyone interested in reading it can find MY review on 4-28-12 in the Archives. This isn't allowing me post HIS link?
      I did not think the book was too long as it seemed to fly by for me! Wow! I had it read in two days! I read it on my Kindle and enjoyed it to no end!
      I did go and read your review. I liked it, but I disagree with two parts you bring up about the author adding the relationship between Tris and Four for the "sales" for her next books. I don't believe she added that relationship at the end to make it 'in anticipation' for Book 2 unless you have had the opportunity to read Insurgent already, yet you have not. Are you sure you read the entire book and didn't switch back and forth between others because their relationship started with attraction in the beginning, not JUST at the end of the book. I do want to add that EVERY teenager and/or person, no matter what situation they are in or their age, DO have attraction/interest in the opposite sex. This is the human element in this book. I don't think we can have that type of book and NOT show some emotion in it. There are so many negative and bad things that happen, it was nice to have a positive in the book and start as an attraction between these two characters. I think the author brought this in on purpose and that it works very well. We are all human, and I feel she was showing the human element to people through all of the fighting and death that occurred along the way. The relationship started soon after Tris entered Dauntless. She was attracted to him then, yet afraid of him at the same time. Four also seemed to have a sweet spot for her, too, and through natural human attraction they get together. This also makes the book appealing to everyone. In the beginning, we don't know quite what to expect of Four so we didn't quite know what to expect of the relationship, either, so we watched it unfold. Can you imagine this story WITHOUT this human interaction in it? I can't. It would be pure death, unless that is what you prefer?
      I'm also kind of bummed out you somewhat put a damper on the expectations of Divergent for NEW Readers by telling them not to expect to much out of Divergent, and to ONLY put it in their Top 20 of great books to read. I think that should be left to the Reader to decide.
      I get the feeling you don't know if the book was so great because you question me whether or not it was worthwhile in your comment and you also mention it is a long read. Like I said above, the book FLEW for me!
      You HAVE given this book a 4.5 to a 5-star rating, yet this confuses me because you found so much wrong with the relationship between Tris and Four, which IS a majority of this book. I would think this would bring your rating down? I am also confused as to your rating of the book since you feel Veronica Roth's intentions with the relationship were only for future sales of her next books in the series.
      Do you know that there is an ebook available at least through Amazon called 'Free Four: Tobias tell the Divergent Story'? It explains more about Four from HIS perspective. It's a GREAT companion piece!
      I hope people DO really look forward to reading it because she wrote an amazing book!
      Well, I HIGHLY suggest reading this book as ONE of the many BEST books!
      Divergent IS an amazing read, in my opinion!
      Thanks for leaving the comment! It's been an interesting one!
      Laurie

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  2. Thanks for the 'heads up', Carole! I'll keep it in mind! I think EVERYONE knows about Divergent, already, so the next AWESOME book I come across I'll keep it in mind!
    I "JUST" found this comment - SORRY it took me so long to reply! It was hiding from me!
    Laurie Carlson
    http://www.lauriehere.blogspot.com

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