Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

I love reading. Books are amazing. They are a form of escapism, yes, but they are also inspiration, joy, and... well. Goodness. I think in some ways I have used my appetite for reading to define parts of my personality, so it made sense for me to review some of what I read! Here we go...

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Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Series: First book in the Divergent Trilogy

Synopsis: "Sixteen-year-old Tris is forced to make a terrible choice. In a divided society where everyone must conform, Tris does not fit.

So she ventures out alone, determined to discover where she truly belongs. Shocked by her brutal new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her. 
The hardest choice lies ahead."

My thoughts: I seem to be on a neverending search for strong female characters, and I was really rewarded with Divergent. Tris is excellent - strong, thoughtful, and yet still able to show emotion and be herself. Needless to say, I fell in love with her and her story almost instantly.
I was worried originally from the blurb that there might be some issues with a 'princess' complex - that is, where a female character appears strong until her 'knight' comes along an suddenly she is weak and frustratingly docile in the face of danger (if you can call screaming uselessly docile), but there was none of that here. Yes, there is romance. No, it does not negate from the character's strength or the storyline itself. In my opinion, the romance aspects of the book felt real, genuine, and interesting.

This book was very fast-paced after a certain point, and also quite violent in parts. Nothing that really bothered me, but I thought I'd leave that as a warning. In light of how awesome I found the main characters, I sometimes felt that I wanted a little more from the minor characters, but the way it was written in Tris's point of view really worked, and the less the other characters came into it, the more you realised it was just a part of Tris's coping mechanisms coming into play.

I have been meaning to read this book for some time, and I am so glad I finally got around to it. I already have Insurgent (Book Two) in my possession, so I will be reading that very soon - I'm really looking forward to it!


You would like this book if: You like strong female characters; you like a bit of action and violence in your YA fiction; you enjoy dystopian fiction.

Rating:  9/10

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