Book Rec- Divergent by Veronica Roth

[methodwriter85]

o I just finished reading the young adult dystopian/action novel, Divergent, and I gotta say, I really loved it. Gripping from beginning to end.

    Divergent follows the adventures of Tris Pryor, a 16-year old girl from a future Chicago. In her world, endless strife made those who were in charge of rebuilding society decided that humans should be divided among certain traits - Candor (the honest) Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the Brave), Amity (the Peaceful), and Erudite (the Intelligent). Each faction lives in a different area of the city and spends their lives cultivating each virture. At 16, everybody takes an aptitude test that simulates a scenario for them, and their response tells them what faction they should choose.

    When Tris takes her test, the results are puzzling and inconclusive, because they suggest that she has traits of at least three factions, which makes her a Divergent. Told never to reveal the results of her test, Tris decides to join the Dauntless. The book follows Tris as she becomes inititated into the Dauntless faction- all of the potential Dauntless are put through grueling physical and emotional tests, where they all compete to take the 10 open slots for the faction. (Those who do not pass become Factionless, which basically means they become homeless with no hope of having a job.)

      As Tris become initated, the rising tension between the factions start to come to a head, leading to the shocking discovery of a conspiracy between two of the factions to take power.
 
      I couldn't put the book down. The character developement of Tris from a meek and mild girl to the kind of person who would do a zipline off the Hancock Tower was fascinating, and there were some great, suspenseful action sequences all throughout the book.

      Definitely two thumbs up. I read the book in preparation of the movie, which has just put out its first mini-teaser. Check the book out if you guys have a chance!
 

[thebrinkoftime]

Would you say it's young adult fiction? The reason I ask is because, maybe it's just the books I read, but lately I've noticed a trend where the modern young adult or child-oriented novels have better pacing, more arresting prose, better and more thoughtful development of an idea and far superior character development than modern fantasy and science fiction written for adults, which is often mired in putrid prose, bonehead characters who go nowhere, ugly current day political grand-standing and tired moral quandaries. In any case, if I have a chance I will check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

Anyway, what you've written reminds me a little of some the societies seen in the Pendragon saga, which is young adult science fiction that brings to mind the old serials I've never read, but have heard people invoke when they are talking about Lucas's inspiration for Star Wars or Indiana Jones. They are entertaining adventure novels, but two of them, Black Water and The Never War, are simply exceptional examples of literature for any type of reader and transcend the usual tropes.

 

It's nice to see that in the wake of The Hunger Games, it's opening up more chances for audiences to see these more thoughtful adventure novels come to the silver screen (this and The Maze Runner).

Edited August 24, 2013 by thebrinkoftime

[CassieQ]

The sequel to Divergent, Insurgent, is out and I think the third is due out in October.  I remember someone on the site who didn't like the books but I really enjoyed them.  Interesting to see what the movie is going to be like.

[Former Member]

Oo...more books to spend money on, lol.  Whee!  Can't be too bored, now can we~?

[B1ue]

Would you say it's young adult fiction? The reason I ask is because, maybe it's just the books I read, but lately I've noticed a trend where the modern young adult or child-oriented novels have better pacing, more arresting prose, better and more thoughtful development of an idea and far superior character development than modern fantasy and science fiction written for adults, which is often mired in putrid prose, bonehead characters who go nowhere, ugly current day political grand-standing and tired moral quandaries. In any case, if I have a chance I will check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

Anyway, what you've written reminds me a little of some the societies seen in the Pendragon saga, which is young adult science fiction that brings to mind the old serials I've never read, but have heard people invoke when they are talking about Lucas's inspiration for Star Wars or Indiana Jones. They are entertaining adventure novels, but two of them, Black Water and The Never War, are simply exceptional examples of literature for any type of reader and transcend the usual tropes.

 

It's nice to see that in the wake of The Hunger Games, it's opening up more chances for audiences to see these more thoughtful adventure novels come to the silver screen (this and The Maze Runner).

A bit of a delayed response, but yes, the Divergent trilogy is young adult.