Before I begin to paint my opinion on this book, I’ll preface it with something you should say to yourself before reading any book: “I can focus on how much this book ultimately sucks more than a Chanel commercial with Brad Pitt, or, I can focus on how much fun it is reading this.”
Divergent, by Veronica Roth, is set in futuristic Chicago, where society has carved themselves into five factions (Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless and Erudite) each who sets one virtue above all else.
Abnegation values selflessness, Amity praises friendship and happiness, and Candor worships honesty, spawning brutally honest walking lie-detectors. Dauntless supposedly serves as protection (but from what?), valuing bravery, and the Erudite pride themselves on intelligence, while the other factions see them as evil. (Corrupt, arrogant intelligence is the only kind that exists).
At age 16, every citizen of this (unnamed) society must choose a faction in which to live for the rest of their sorry, dystopian lives. They make their choice at the cleverly-named ‘Choosing Ceremony’. Beatrice Prior’s results are inconclusive, meaning she is “Divergent”, and could be killed.
The next 400 pages of the novel consist of Beatrice’s initiation in her new faction. The initiation is chock-full of jumping off moving trains, jumping off rooftops, jumping off tall buildings (lots of adrenaline), UFC fighting and psychological torture methods. The meat of the story appears around page 415.
Remember Hunger Games, where everything had a place? Each district belonged somewhere, and you could imagine yourself in the dusty District 12, or in the shiny Capitol, or even in the deadly Arena. You understood the dynamics of Panem and its history.
Divergent is not like that. Instead, imagine a board game, with absurd rules, but nobody really questions them, because, well, you’re playing a game on a cardboard square. (Why are you the automobile, and I’m the thimble? Why am I going to jail?) This book displays very poor world-building. Seriously, it makes as much sense as nailing Jell-O to a tree. Get over it.
The book’s salvation is in its ability to produce seriously heart-pounding, adrenaline-pumping scenes while giving you a heroine who would make mincemeat of Katniss in a fistfight.
Logic aside, Veronica Roth is a pioneer in her brand-new (but seemingly drunk) story ideas. Her writing was invisible, neither detracting from nor adding to the story.
There’s a distinction between “I liked it” and “It was good”. At the end of the day, it’s up to you whether or not you’ll enjoy Divergent as I did.
