Divergent Better Not Suck

I recently read "Divergent" by Veronica Roth. (I like young adult novels. Get over it.) My sister convinced me that I should read it since there is a movie coming out on March 21st. It's one series that I always just walked past while I was browsed for something new to read. Truthfully, without Sarah's nudge, I probably wouldn't have picked it up until sometime after the movie came out on Blue Ray and I finally decided to rent it. I'd seen the trailers. It looked... alright. I mean, I can tell that they are trying to cash in on the success of the Hunger Games series. However, I set that aside and did one of the things I love most in the world. I got lost in a book.

Divergent, in short, feels like all the other dystopian novels in the recently popularized genre. It delivers quite a different intro than I am used to, because you know right at first that something big is going to happen. And you won't have to wait for the close of the trilogy to see what that will be. The story takes place about a hundred years into the future in what we would recognize as Chicago. (Although, I don't remember it stating where it was.) It's told in first person through the main character, Beatrice Prior, who has just turned 16 and is preparing for the day she must choose to which of the 5 factions of society she will belong. This is the part I stop summarizing the book. (It's because I hate when someone does a review and summarizes for most of it, and then says, "It was dumb.") 

I actually liked this book a lot, and I look forward to reading the remainder of the trilogy. It was tough for me until about chapter 5 though. It is a lot like "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins in the beginning. In fact, I purchased this digitally, and I had to bookmark and check to see if it was the same author. That isn't a bash against either author, but tonally speaking it is the same result. There is some really great attention to detail in this story when it comes to the surroundings of the characters. I think that's probably why the location isn't actually disclosed. Besides that, the place they are in no longer matters in this version of the future. 

The only negative note I give this is the unnecessary romance that only really takes place near the end of the book. The rest of the time there is a great magnetism and tension between the two love interests that makes me wish she had waited to flush it out a little longer. (Probably just my male perspective.) 

Ultimately, this book has me extremely excited to see the movie starring, Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Kate Winslet. I know they have changed some things just by viewing the trailers, but hopefully not to the detriment of the story. If you haven't read the book, I always suggest a good read, and if you have, let me know what you think of the movie.

Coming soon: I review the Harry Potter movies and find out why it's probably a good thing you wouldn't get to choose your Hogwarts house.






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