Blurb:
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.
If you haven’t heard of this one you’ve been living under a rock.
There’s been so much hype surrounding this one, and I’m happy to say it’s well deserved. This is a good book. The plot is great, the character development is epic. It’s pretty darn perfect.
The author said that the number one thing she tried to do was make her main character proactive. This shows, and the book is a great read because of it. The pacing is fast. The world is rich and well thought through. The themes are present but not suffocating.
And it’s fun – the most important element of a book. I was glued from start to finish. It didn’t quite reach the candy covered addictive levels of the Cinder series, but it got very close.
If I’m going to be picky, I’d say that I don’t think the danger of being a divergent came across as well as it could have in the start of the book. But that’s a niggle.
Niggles aside, this is an epic read. 4.5 stars. If you like dystopian in any way shape or form you have to read this.
samaustinwriter 