Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth
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 threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
This book came highly recommended to me.  Very highly by numerous people.  So I could not wait to start it.  When I eventually got around to reading it, I was a bit disappointed.  It started off and reminded me of The Hunger Games to such a degree that I felt a bit disappointed.  Not enough to put me of reading the book but enough to make me feel discontented.  But I am a trooper.  So I carried on, soon The Hunger Games was forgotten, the similarities paling, the dystopian world came alive in front of my eyes and it has been ages since I have liked a character as much as I do Tris.  This, people is a truly strong female protagonist.  This is also one of the central themes in the book…what is courage? What is self sacrifice and what good is knowledge….
To say that I am now one of this author's biggest fans is like saying a King guy writes horror or stuff… This woman is brilliant, the tempo she maintains in her book, pushing her characters and her readers onwards upwards and forward until you find yourself at the very edge of a cliff is masterly done.  I have the second book. So excuse me please…..

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