Divergent

Divergent
Veronica Roth
487 pages
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: library
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

This was another one of those books that was so hyped to me that I thought for sure I would absolutely fall in love with it.  That didn't quite happen.  My high expectations were not met for most of the novel, though I did enjoy it from the beginning - just not as much as I thought I would.  At age sixteen, everyone must select a faction, one of five, to live in for the rest of their lives.  Those who cannot or will not choose become factionless, or essentially homeless.  When Beatrice goes through the testing, she discovers that she is Divergent, no faction is right for her, but she picks Dauntless anyway - the faction where they are fearless and they fight.  Meanwhile, the dystopian society they are living in is being threatened.

It wasn't that I didn't enjoy the beginning of the book, I just didn't feel that pull that I thought I would and I found myself not really caring if I picked up Divergent or something else.  The last third is what took my rating from three stars to four stars and sealed the deal for me.  I really enjoyed the blossoming romance between Tris and Four, which I saw coming but was glad to actually see on the pages.  The last few chapters were riddled with such awesome action that I couldn't not enjoy the novel in the end.

I loved the character of Tris.  Even though at the beginning of the book she doesn't know who she is, she finds out for herself fast and sticks to it.  She knows what she wants, she knows how to get it, and yet at the same time her character remains endearing.

Overall, the plot was good (even if it was a bit of a rip off of The Hunger Games), the characters were awesome, and the settings were diverse.  And of course now I'm eager to read the second book in the series since you know this one obviously ended with some cliffhangers.  I would recommend this to anyone who went head over heels for The Hunger Games.