Review--Divergent by Veronica Roth

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.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

All righty! I really finished this last Friday while I was in the car going on vacation with my family! And wow! All I can say is that I love it!

Veronica Roth's Divergent is simply amazing! I loved seeing Beatrice's transformation. She sort of reminded me of Veronica Wolff's Drew. The same sort of awkward-like-ness. The type who has never done anything dangerous and yet has to learn how to be so! Beatrice--Tris, as she calls herself, is the same. She lives in Abnegation where they always always to the extreme put others before themselves. And when she turns 16, she gets to choose which faction she wants to live in. But when she takes a sort of aptitude test to see where she might belong, her results are inconclusive--which results to her being Divergent. She doesn't really belong to any one faction. 

You would think this wouldn't be a big deal, so your beliefs go both ways in certain circumstances, but in this futuristic Chicago, it is a very big deal. Being Divergent is dangerous. It could get you killed.

Tris chooses to be Dauntless, but soon finds out that just because she chose the Dauntless faction, doesn't mean she's a member. She has to pass three tests, in which other initiates are eliminated as well. At first it looks like she might have chosen poorly, because if she fails to pass the tests with good scores, she will become factionless. And the odds aren't in her favor to begin with since she's from Abnegation. The other initiates are pretty cruel.

For the majority of the book, we see Tris transform from her meek self into a stronger person. She gets tattoos, stands up for people, takes risks, does daredevil activities. It was amazing! I so envy her ability to adapt.

Now onto a major topic, Four! I soooo understand the Four love now! I so fell for him too. He so has the mysterious vibe down! He's strong and fierce, yet Tris finds the soft side to him!

The other characters were great too! Christina started off a little flakey. I was afraid she'd be a big bitch to Tris, but she actually becomes a very good friend! There are also some not so nice people, such as Peter who was a total asswad. He was set to bring Tris down, because she was better than him and partly because she was from Abnegation.

The ending cane be summed up in two words. Totally Epic! Big things were happening, this is what the series was building too I believe, yet I can't say what it was. But it involves all of the factions.

The ending was totally action packed and I will admit it left me a little emotional! Soooo much was happening left and right! The tale end of course leaves just enough hanging that you anticipate the next book, but I have other books I have to get through first, unfortunately!

The writing of Divergent was splendid! I wasn't sure if I would like it, knowing that there wasn't any paranormal elements, yet surprisingly, I did love it! There's so much action, and even a bit of mystery building up that it was hard to not enjoy it!

Divergent was an epic read! I look forward to reading more of this series!

Overall rating 5/5 stars