I bought this book upon Lord Voldemort’s recommendation. Okay, I don’t mean the real dark lord from the Harry Potter series, but a witty guy who pretends to be him.
This is the official overview of the story:
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, 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 to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating 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 a growing conflict that threatens 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 was a page-turner. I read three quarters of all its 487 pages in just one night, sleeping at 2 am even though I had work the next day because I just couldn’t put it down. It reminded me of Hunger Games – a Dystopian thriller with adventure, violent fights and romance.
Roth created such an interesting world that for a moment, I left the one I lived in and started thinking, if I lived in there, which faction would I choose?
Definitely not Dauntless, the one that Tris chooses – I’ve never been brave. I’m scared of heights and explosions and blood and lightning and… let’s just say that if I went through my fear landscape, I would probably have a hundred or so fears to face and be in there for hours, if not days.
Abnegation may be safe but it’s way too boring for me and let’s face it, I am not that selfless.
I don’t appreciate Candor either – I can’t handle the truth, and I am too Filipino to tell it like it is.
That leaves me with Amity and Erudite then. I can easily imagine fitting into either. Does that mean that I’m also divergent?
I do have a gripe with the book, though, and it is with its last five chapters, which contains the climax of the story. It feels so rushed that it feels unbelievable compared to the pace of the rest of the book.
Still, I enjoyed the book overall and would love to see what happens in books two and three. This one’s a win.
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