Insurgent

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Rating <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Summary: One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

Review: In her follow up to Divergent,  with Insurgent Roth once again takes readers into the faction controlled world of Tris and Tobias who are fighting just to stay alive and to prevent the leader of the faction in control of the pursuit of knowledge (Jeanine) from turning the citizens of their world into mindless drones who would lose free will and the right to exist as individuals.  This book when into very great detail about Tris' emotional struggle and depression that she had to deal with after losing her parents and having to shoot a close friend in the previous book.  This combined with the interpersonal conflicts between Tris and 'Four'; and Tris and Christina and other characters throughout this story made this a very engrossing read for me especially since I have two psychology related degrees.  

The details, and scenery were wonderfully described; in addition I literally felt myself being pulled into the story I finished the book in two sittings and can honestly say I enjoyed every minute.  It seemed to show struggles that many people face both in adolescence and through adulthood.  Tris is a character that many different age groups can relate to and in this book I was literally rooting her on through every page.  

The book contained many dilemmas that everyone has to face eventually dying, losing someone you love, mortality, learning how to solve interpersonal conflicts, and learning that when you truly love someone you are willing to put their needs above your own.  Insurgent is one of my new favorites; it shows that when humanity is faced with overwhelming odds we can pull ourselves back up and come back swinging; also it has a great surprise ending ;) But you need to read it to find out!

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Rating <3 <3 <3 <3

Summary: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, 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 alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating 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 unrest and growing conflict that threaten 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 YA scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

Review: I first saw Divergent in Half Price Books a few months ago and it peaked my interest; I just recently got the chance to see the movie with my significant other and that confirmed for me the need to read the series because for me when it comes down to whether a movie or the book that it was based on and which will be better the book will almost ALWAYS win.  

Divergent took me into the faction based society of Beatrice who lives in a world where at sixteen teenagers must choose one of five factions they will stay in for the rest of their lives; these factions are based on different aspects of the human character; and to choose which they should join the candidates are tested; given the results then the choice is ultimately left up to them.   Beatrice is followed through her initiation, into her chosen faction called Dauntless,  through the forming of new friendships, into learning what it is to form a life beyond her nuclear family, and most importantly Beatrice finds that she has a more complicated path to follow then most and the novel follows her path as she learns that the most important thing is not always what you are but who you are.  

I enjoyed the book because it delved into the complicated idea of what a society can turn into when humanity tries to take the best of itself and split it up into different pieces instead of using them together to work as a moving whole piece.  The characters and descriptive scenes described in the book were amazing to imagine for me as a reader; Roth has an amazing talent as a writer; it's inspiring for me to know she wrote this piece of literature so young and it's a book I can't recommend enough.  I am reading the second book in the series now.