Divergent (Divergent Trilogy, Book 1)
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For what it was, it was alright. Nothing that stands out like other dystopian books out there. Sort of undecided whether I want to continue reading the rest of the trilogy. The actual struggle of the story only starts at the end of the book. Most of what happens before that is just filler and not much character building.
As far as girly, young-adult dystopian novels made into movies go, this isn't great. As a book in general, this is very mediocre. The amount of eye-rolling and disgusted sighs that happened was enough to drive my husband out of my presence because he couldn't handle it anymore. Having said that, it at least kept my interest, which is more than I can say for some novels in the same general genre.
Plot: There are these four factions. No reason. They just are. The kids choose their own factions when they reach sixteen. Because I guess that seems like a good time to do that. When your brain isn't fully developed. But it sure helps you key into your target audience. Oh, and apparently it's okay to write "steamy" romance scenes (read overblown, repetitive, and tiresome) between a sixteen-year-old and an eighteen-year-old, thereby convincing teens it's okay to do that even if the law says you shouldn't, because love and stuff. So anyhow, the main character, Beatrice (who sadly turns her beautiful name into the truncated and stupid-sounding "Tris"), chooses the reckless faction instead of the monk-like, selfless one she came from. BTW, all the faction names are a tad too on the nose if you have higher than an eighth grade vocabulary. Which Veronica Roth really doesn't. Her writing feels forced, stilted, and barely higher than the writing abilities of her audience. Tris chooses the "brave" one. And guess what: it's hard. And there's a lot of crying. And training. And crying. And flirting. And crying. And then, after the twenty-third time Tris has cried, she says that she's not the crying type. Whatever. But by then it doesn't matter because there's actually some plot. Oh, plus, it seems like even though the factions were meant to keep people good, they actually suck. Bummer.
The big thing in this book is, you know, the title business: being "Divergent," which basically means you are fit for more than one faction and get a wider range of options from which to choose. Or, not a sheeple. And apparently, there are less than a dozen free-thinkers for countless sheeple. Really? And half of them are in a single family, it feels like. Shocker. I understand that this is supposed to be about thinking for yourself and breaking free of conformity and whatnot, but it's not exactly subtle. Tris, as a narrator, is exceptionally thick. However, if her realizations had come sooner, the book would be 300 pages shorter, and we can't have that. Overall, the ideas just feel tired. Oh boy, another angsty teenager book about being yourself, despite obstacles. OH LOOK A CUTE BOY DROOOOOOOOOOL. Please kill me.
I read somewhere that Veronica Roth wasn't interested in "smut on the page," which amused me. Authors like her and Stephanie Meyer (where sex leads to danger, pain equivalent to torture, and death, but motherhood leads to a rebirth into the world of perfection) choose to not include graphic sex scenes, but if they think that they are somehow being tame or leaving sex out of it by not actually including sex, they are wrong. The pages simply drip with sexual tension, allusions, and rampant, unmitigated desire. It's genuinely astonishing her characters don't rip each other's clothes off and do the nasty right there. Sex is part of real life, and I guess she addressed it, but I am tired of people dancing around it. If they just did it and it was over, it would be less of a big deal than when they dance coyly around it for 250+ pages.
My biggest problem, I think, with this book was the lack of world-building. I need a complete world for fantasy and science fiction novels. I need to know the mechanics, the physics, the laws, the philosophies. . .or else I don't understand what the kerfuffle is when the laws and philosophies are overturned. How can you react when you don't know what weight the reaction should carry? I feel blind. I understand that authors need to show, not tell, but at the same time I expect a certain level of background information so that I can then make sense of the showing. The easiest comparison I can make is with The Hunger Games, unfortunately. Suzanne Collins lays it all out for us in the first couple of chapters, including why they even have the Hunger Games in the first place, thus allowing us to comprehend what Katniss is facing and why it is a big deal that anyone is fighting against it (and laying the groundwork for later things, like District 13). There is no such feeling in Divergent. I still am not really sure why I should care. I have literally no clue why society is arranged in this fashion and what happened to all the other cities (or, I don't know, the world?) since all that seems to matter is Chicago proper. Please, no, don't let this have a wider impact than thirty square miles. Let's not worry about the wide web of interconnectedness.
I probably will read the second two. Gah. I like to know how things end, even if I'm not thrilled to be reading the books that contain the endings. I like resolutions and getting to the finish, but I'm no longer willing to skip to the epilogue like I was when I was a kid reading Dear America diaries. Fortunately, now, the bar of my expectations is set. If she goes higher, cool. If she goes lower, well. . .the bar is now set pretty low, so if she goes lower, that's going to be just plain sad.
Vaya con dios. Wish me luck.
Plot: There are these four factions. No reason. They just are. The kids choose their own factions when they reach sixteen. Because I guess that seems like a good time to do that. When your brain isn't fully developed. But it sure helps you key into your target audience. Oh, and apparently it's okay to write "steamy" romance scenes (read overblown, repetitive, and tiresome) between a sixteen-year-old and an eighteen-year-old, thereby convincing teens it's okay to do that even if the law says you shouldn't, because love and stuff. So anyhow, the main character, Beatrice (who sadly turns her beautiful name into the truncated and stupid-sounding "Tris"), chooses the reckless faction instead of the monk-like, selfless one she came from. BTW, all the faction names are a tad too on the nose if you have higher than an eighth grade vocabulary. Which Veronica Roth really doesn't. Her writing feels forced, stilted, and barely higher than the writing abilities of her audience. Tris chooses the "brave" one. And guess what: it's hard. And there's a lot of crying. And training. And crying. And flirting. And crying. And then, after the twenty-third time Tris has cried, she says that she's not the crying type. Whatever. But by then it doesn't matter because there's actually some plot. Oh, plus, it seems like even though the factions were meant to keep people good, they actually suck. Bummer.
The big thing in this book is, you know, the title business: being "Divergent," which basically means you are fit for more than one faction and get a wider range of options from which to choose. Or, not a sheeple. And apparently, there are less than a dozen free-thinkers for countless sheeple. Really? And half of them are in a single family, it feels like. Shocker. I understand that this is supposed to be about thinking for yourself and breaking free of conformity and whatnot, but it's not exactly subtle. Tris, as a narrator, is exceptionally thick. However, if her realizations had come sooner, the book would be 300 pages shorter, and we can't have that. Overall, the ideas just feel tired. Oh boy, another angsty teenager book about being yourself, despite obstacles. OH LOOK A CUTE BOY DROOOOOOOOOOL. Please kill me.
I read somewhere that Veronica Roth wasn't interested in "smut on the page," which amused me. Authors like her and Stephanie Meyer (where sex leads to danger, pain equivalent to torture, and death, but motherhood leads to a rebirth into the world of perfection) choose to not include graphic sex scenes, but if they think that they are somehow being tame or leaving sex out of it by not actually including sex, they are wrong. The pages simply drip with sexual tension, allusions, and rampant, unmitigated desire. It's genuinely astonishing her characters don't rip each other's clothes off and do the nasty right there. Sex is part of real life, and I guess she addressed it, but I am tired of people dancing around it. If they just did it and it was over, it would be less of a big deal than when they dance coyly around it for 250+ pages.
My biggest problem, I think, with this book was the lack of world-building. I need a complete world for fantasy and science fiction novels. I need to know the mechanics, the physics, the laws, the philosophies. . .or else I don't understand what the kerfuffle is when the laws and philosophies are overturned. How can you react when you don't know what weight the reaction should carry? I feel blind. I understand that authors need to show, not tell, but at the same time I expect a certain level of background information so that I can then make sense of the showing. The easiest comparison I can make is with The Hunger Games, unfortunately. Suzanne Collins lays it all out for us in the first couple of chapters, including why they even have the Hunger Games in the first place, thus allowing us to comprehend what Katniss is facing and why it is a big deal that anyone is fighting against it (and laying the groundwork for later things, like District 13). There is no such feeling in Divergent. I still am not really sure why I should care. I have literally no clue why society is arranged in this fashion and what happened to all the other cities (or, I don't know, the world?) since all that seems to matter is Chicago proper. Please, no, don't let this have a wider impact than thirty square miles. Let's not worry about the wide web of interconnectedness.
I probably will read the second two. Gah. I like to know how things end, even if I'm not thrilled to be reading the books that contain the endings. I like resolutions and getting to the finish, but I'm no longer willing to skip to the epilogue like I was when I was a kid reading Dear America diaries. Fortunately, now, the bar of my expectations is set. If she goes higher, cool. If she goes lower, well. . .the bar is now set pretty low, so if she goes lower, that's going to be just plain sad.
Vaya con dios. Wish me luck.
I thought that, while the plot of this dystopian novel was captivating, Tris and her other transfer friends were quite flat. Yes, Tris did get physically stronger as a fighter, but her character did not seem to be adapting too much. The ending was also quite abrupt, as suddenly so many people were being controlled or murdered and the backstory of why Erudite hated Abnegation was very vague. I think most students would like this book, but I wouldn't recommend it to my friends now.
OK so I watched the movie first. I never do that! Anyway by two chapters deep and so many questions I had about the movie and things I didn't even realize I was questioning, had been answered. I feel in love with the extended story and the clarity of the book vs the movie. They make her look so much worse and hopeless in the movie, I get it, create drama and suspense in the movie, but it didn't need it. The characters were so fleshed out and I really felt for Al, who in the movie I didn't care an ounce about. In the books Tris is a little lacking in the confidence area but she's smart and kicks ass. Literally. She's made of muscle and wit. I also really love the idea of visitation day, it just makes so much sense. I knew I was missing a lot but I didn't know how much. The story lines just flows so much better and more naturally. Things make just a bit more sense and it results in an overall awesomeness. I am so glad I took the time to read the book and I would be halfway through the second one if it hadn't already been checked out when I returned Divergent. I fell in love with the movie, but I am in complete awe of the book. Read it!!
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