Nocturnal Book Reviews: Divergent by Veronica Roth review

Divergent by Veronica Roth review

Monday, August 29, 2011 | Posted by kara-karina@Nocturnal Book Reviews

Divergent by Veronica Roth (Divergent #1)

from the library

Synopsis from Goodreads
Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place in mortal danger. Veronica Roth's young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances.

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I'm pretty sure I've forced my poor local library to buy this book by ordering it before the acquisition. Yay!

I'm a huge fan of dystopias and I couldn't pass Divergent after it got so much publicity and so many rave reviews. Did I love it? You bet! Will I read the book #2? Undoubtedly. Did it top my favorite YA dystopian The Hunger Games? No.

The premise was fantastic. I loved the different factions, Tris as a person and the whole idea of training and simulations. Four was an attractive enough character as well. I particularly loved reading about training, it's always so fascinating to find out with the heroes their unknown depths and what they are really capable of.

Take Rose in Vampire Academy or Dru in Strange Angels - the training is a yummy part of the book because then you are able to see how they use it in real life situations.

As to the rest of the book, despite the shocking end, I felt that the author didn't dig deep enough. I needed to see more dirt, what was happening inside the factions - the intrigues, the conspiracies, the suspicion of what was outside the city gate, why the walls needed patrolling? What happened to the world in general? I had so many questions but pretty much all of them were left unanswered, and the end felt somewhat anticlimactic.

There was also the matter of the nature of Divergents. What was the precedent which led to such extreme treatment of them? Because there has to be at least one major case.

So, although I enjoyed Divergent I hope the second book will give us some answers and more insight into its world.

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Ну что я могу сказать? Хоть до Голодных Игр и не дотягивает, но читать стоит. Интересная история, замечательный главный персонаж Беатрис - она же Трис и её любовный интерес Четыре.

Очень понравилось читать про разные фракции, про треннинг главных героев и садистские упражнения, а также симуляции их страхов. Я вообще читать про саму подготовку очень люблю - взять ту же Роуз и Вампирской Академии и Дрю из Странных Ангелов...

Теперь о том, что не понравилось. Не хватает книге мяса, мои дорогие. Мир-то он есть, но он не объясняется. Что происходит во фракциях, - заговоры, интриги и почее? Как до такого мира докатились? Почему город обнесён стеной и от чего его охраняют? Что случилось с остальным миром? Что находится за стеной?

В общем, вопросов осталось куча, и даже концовка особо ошеломляющей не получилась. Вторую книгу буду читать обязательно и очень надеюсь, что на развитие мира потратится хоть какая-то часть истории.

9/10

Tags: 9/10, dystopia, veronica roth, YA, дистопия

4 comments:

Rebecca said...: I can't wait to read this one myself! It seems extremely good and I've also heard tons of good things about it. I'm glad you enjoyed it, even if it wasn't 100%! I didn't even know there would be a book #2? Lol, fail on me. Great review!

Rebecca
Kindle Fever; 30 August 2011 00:25
Melissa (My World...in words and pages) said...: I have this one here on the shelf. Now I need to get to it. But this sounds great. Hope it gets a little deeper for you in the next book. Maybe it will, as this was only the start. :) Thanks!; 30 August 2011 01:36
kara-karina@Nocturnal Book Reviews said...: Oh yes, girls! I'm sure you both will enjoy it immensely. It was great! I'm jus being a pain in the backside as usual demanding for the plot to fatten up :); 30 August 2011 01:39
thetravelingreader said...: I don't normally read reviews before reading the actual books but I'll take an exception for this one as I'm planning to buy new books and I'm hoping this one is worth it. :); 31 August 2011 08:42