Divergent

I'd heard a lot about this before finally picking it up on my last run to the bookstore. The recommendations and raves were definitely well-placed with Divergent. This book really deserves all the attention it's been getting. It was a refreshing read in so many ways, the writing style, the lack of cliche characters, the detail. It was well-paced, and so engrossing that I finished it in one sitting. On to the review:

Blurb from Goodreads.com:

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.

My Review:

I really liked Divergent, it somehow managed to be original, dystopian, and relatable, without being depressing or annoying. I don't usually like dystopian novels because they always make the entire universe seem bleak and pointless, and the scenario's that make the world a dystopia rarely make any sense if you think about it. 

It's different in this book, it's a (reasonably) fair system, everyone has a choice. I appreciated the lack of a love triangle, they're so overused in series and it's refreshing to see a straightforward love interest. It had a perfect (in my opinion, of course) balance of action, dialogue, flash-backs, history, romance etc. The pace was perfect, not too fast, not agonizingly slow.

Roth really sucks you into the world she created, providing vivid descriptions and a detailed background story for the alternate universe where the story is set. At the same time the characters are well fleshed-out, their thought processes are understandable and realistic (illogical main characters automatically deprive me of any enjoyment I may have had from a book), and they're perfectly flawed (no Mary Sue's in sight thank god). Roth didn't rely on any of the stale YA cliches (love triangle, orphaned main character, drop-dead gorgeous main character, idiot characters, personal-grudge-bearing archenemy etc.)

In the end it was a very enjoyable read which left me anxious to buy the sequel :)

Ever Yours~

The Know-it-all