Allegiant (Divergent Trilogy)

Me, reading Allegiant
****PLOT SPOILERS - BE AWARE****


Allegiant by Veronica Roth is the third book in the Divergent series. And it's a snooze fest. I know this review will upset some people, but it's true. Divergent was okay - I enjoyed the characters and the story, and I even enjoyed the movie despite some poor acting. I thought it fleshed out well and aligned strongly with the novel. Insurgent was predictable, but still intriguing as Roth set up the final sides of the battle. But Allegiant was mostly description and it was terribly predictable. I was simply annoyed that I read it.

What is it about trilogies that dies in the third book? The Hunger Games series was the same way! Yet other series I've read, that go on even longer (Harry Potter, hell - even Twilight), do not have the same drop off. Is it a trilogy that is the problem? Trying to stretch out a story that simply doesn't need to be stretched out? I think so. I'm currently reading The Dark Witch trilogy by Nora Roberts - it's not a "teen" novel so I'm hopeful. But it seems sometimes it's okay for the book series to just end - a duo wouldn't hurt my feelings at all; and that's what the Divergent series should have been - just two books.

Allegiant is full of unrealistic plot pitfalls - mostly concerning the world outside the fence that is apparently filled with self-righteous pricks that hate everyone within the experiments and the factions. The caste system developed by Roth in the "new land" was annoying (along with the poor factionless of whom I felt no pity for - I'm simply over people blaming others for their station in life, we all have a battle to fight) - I'm so very tired of hearing about the oppressed when it comes to racial boundaries and that's what the play on pure bloods vs. damaged mirrored. Truly horribly. It made me not care at all about either group of people. Roth kept using the word "genetics" throughout the final book. I don't think that word means what she thinks it does:


Allegiant is nothing more than a "clean-up" of the disaster developed in Insurgent and not a solid clean up either. More holes than lace. Plot twists that don't make sense. The only kudos I'll give to Roth is at least she had the 'cahones' to kill off Tris in the end and make Four carry the lonely, heartbroken torch for her as he tries to find a place in this new world instead of making her a subservient wife and mother like Collins does in Mockingjay with Katniss and Peeta. I finished the book series wishing I hadn't read it at all.

Allegiant reads like this: Faction issues, factionless issues, living mother pressuring Four, lie to Tris, Tris knows anyway, faction issues, factionless issues, Tris lies to Four, Four knows anyway, faction issues, lies, truths, lies, truths, faction issues, factionless issues, decisions, decisions, decisions, die, die, die, faction issues, pureblood issues, caste system, die, die, die, decisions, die, blah, blah, blah...




In the word's of Bradley Cooper from The Silver Linings Playbook:

WTF??? And then he throws the book out the window!

Disappointing.

Allegiant is a flawed but fascinating conclusion that will define the trilogy for you, one way or another. It is not the exhilarating, action-packed finale many expected. Instead, it is a slower, more philosophical book that makes huge, irreversible choices. Your rating will likely hinge entirely on how you feel about its ending and its shift from action to exposition.

Perfect for readers who: value thematic ambition and moral complexity over pure plot satisfaction, don't mind (or even enjoy) exposition-heavy world-building, and appreciate an ending that prioritizes tragedy and message over traditional heroism.

Frustrating for readers who: loved the fast pace and visceral action of the first two books, wanted a more triumphant or romantic conclusion for the core characters, or find philosophical debates in YA dystopia to slow the narrative momentum too much.

I liked the concept but it was a pretty boring story throughout. The ending was terrible. Left you feeling unsatisfied. The book as a whole lacked a lot of action that was in the first two books. I loved the first two but this was a disappointment overall.

The final conclusion to the divergent series. IMHO I felt ms Roth either had amnesia OR she was paid an obscene amount of money to hurry up and conclude the series since the movie came out or is coming out soon. I'm bad about movies. I don't particularly care for them.

It was not in the same league of the first book. The second book was not loved by me either. The third book felt like someone else wrote it for her. It was very different in so many levels. I kept saying, "you're kidding, right?" Sadly, I am with a heavy heart as I give it only toe stars. I truly wanted to love this book. It could have been better.

Next book....