Eisley Jacobs -

DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth COMING MAY 2011

Summary: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris, and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together, they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes-fascinating, sometimes-exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret: one she’s kept hidden from everyone, because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly-perfect society, she also learns that her secret might be what helps her save those she loves . . . or it might be what destroys her.

My (no spoiler) Thoughts : Oh. My. Gosh.

Trust me when I tell you that you must go pre-order this book RIGHT NOW! It’s not for younger audiences because of some of the violence, but it’s clean. Just go do it… I’ll wait. TRUST ME. You will thank me later.

Okay, so from the first page I was hooked. Veronica Roth is a talented writer and really knows how to word weave! She created her world with precision and grace. I could see the landscape and experienced what her character did the moment she was doing it. The book is written in first person present and she did it VERY well.

The relationships she created were not only believable but not cliché or forced. It was very easy to fall into step beside the Tris and believe as she did, wondering what these choices could mean to her, her friends and her family.

The relationship between Tris and the “boy” the summary refers to was amazing. I found myself really rooting for him/her/them… it was awesome.

The last 1/5th of the book felt rushed. I almost felt like I could have read another 50 pages of wrap up, yet at the same time I was satisfied. I have a feeling there may be a sequel in the future so we can find out what came next.. BUT there doesn’t have to be for me to sleep soundly tonight.

I debated on if I should take a star away for the rushed ending, but realized I could not because I don’t feel like I missed out on anything.

At times this novel can be harsh and violent, but not grotesquely so. Language wise, I can usually remember if someone has cursed or if bad language was overused and since I can’t recall (and I just finished it), this means nothing stuck out to me as language abuse. THIS thrills me. I find YA that overuse profanity to be disturbing. Yes kids curse, but some of these novels are just blatantly misusing because they can get away with it. THIS novel is not like this.

I loved the relationship between her parents… and I do feel like the brother side plot could have been a little more fleshed out. HOWEVER, where would that have fit in??? The book was already long and I would NOT have been okay with cutting anything else out. So I am glad it was the brother who made some of the cuts not Will, Christina, Eric, Peter or Big Al.

So it is with pleasure that I award DIVERGENT a 4.5 star rating…. Seriously good stuff people! SERIOUSLY!!

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