Divergent by Veronica Roth Another Great Dystopian Novel

Mack Hogan `15
Following the success of major blockbuster hit The Hunger Games, dystopian novels have become extremely successful. Divergent, a Veronica Roth novel, is one of these dystopian hits.

The story chronicles the life of Beatrice Prior, a teenage girl living in a post-apocalyptic society based in present day Chicago. This society has divided itself into factions, all of which blame a different human trait for the war that almost destroyed humanity. Beatrice was born into the Abnegation faction. They blamed selfishness, and thus work to be completely selfless. Amity blames violence, Dauntless blames fear, Erudite blames ignorance, and Candor blames dishonesty. Each faction is designed to eliminate the trait that they believe ruined humanity.
Overall, the story focuses on Beatrice as she chooses her faction and begins initiation: a grueling ritual that exists within all factions in different forms. She tries to overcome people’s initial thoughts of her and become something more than what she was.
Although I cannot reveal the rest of the plot, I do guarantee that it is a very interesting story to read. The writer has a great talent, making mundane things done by Beatrice more interesting. There is never much time for relaxing; the story keeps pushing in different directions, breaking the boundaries of what you thought you were reading. If you like The Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Uglies, or any other dystopian novel, Divergent is bound to meet if not surpass your expectations for this genre.
Furthermore, this book continues into Insurgent. Although the plot in Insurgent contains much more action on a larger scale, it does not avoid the traditional sequel pitfalls. It simply does not live up to the amazing book before it. It drags on a little bit too long and tries too hard to expand the universe within the book into areas that were nonexistent in the original. That being said, I still think it is a worthwhile read. Although it lacks the original magic in a similar manner as Mockingjay and Catching Fire do, it is still a great novel. The final book of the trilogy, Allegiant, comes out on October 22. Hopefully, it can bring back what Insurgent lacked. Look out for a film adaptation of Divergent starring Shailene Woodley coming soon to theaters.