Review | Divergent by Veronica Roth

Synopsis from Goodreads: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, 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 to determine who her friends really are–and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating 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 a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

I had been hearing quite a bit of buzz about Insurgent and wowsa, the buzz has been deserved. I couldn’t put this book down. In a market that is flooded with dystopian stories, I found Divergent to be a fresh take on the subject. The idea of being divided into different factions according to the strengths a person has was very interesting and even insightful as to how humans often like to categorize. But do we do when people don’t fit into the neat little box we want them to fit into? I highly recommend and can hardly wait to get my hands on book two of the trilogy.

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Overall Rating: 1/2

Parent’s guide: I would only give this book to mature teens and adults.

• Sex: kissing throughout the books, a girl is groped, some sensuality
• Violence: quite a bit, hand-to-hand combat with teens, teens using guns, people are shot and killed, someone commits suicide, a girl is hung over a ledge and almost murdered
• Language: the word hell is used and the use of deity
• Adult Themes: teens get tattoos and drink alcohol, people are injected with a drug that makes them hallucinate, suicide, death