Divergent by Veronica Roth Series: Divergent #1
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books (2011)
eBook (487 pages)
Rating:
Reading Challenges: Read 2015
Synopsis
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.
Find the book: Goodreads
My Review
I’m not entirely sure why I put this book off so long. Part of it may have been because my sister enlightened me on the end of the trilogy. I also don’t always read hyped books. But I did eventually pick this one up.
This book is about selflessness and bravery. It is about a girl, Tris, who makes a choice. On Choosing Day Tris chooses to leave her faction, Abnegation, and join another faction, Dauntless. Tris then needs to figure out what being Divergent really means and how she can best hide it.
The process of becoming Dauntless isn’t easy. Tris has to confront a lot of things in her life, especially her fears. The process also changes her, makes her more aware of who she really is.
I like the character of Tris (even though every time I read the name the image of Tris from the Circle of Magic quartet jumped into my head). She has some very real struggles and she seemed like a very real character. She reacted in ways that made sense with her previous choices, not against them.
I liked that this novel, at least to me, seemed to be about self-discovery and choosing a path. Tris discovers a lot about herself throughout the book and really is a different person by the end. Tris also chose a path that she wanted to follow and then made the choices she felt she needed to in order to do what she thought was right.
Catholic Connections
*Spoiler Alert*
In order to analyze the text and make these connections, there may be some spoilers.
Please do not continue reading unless you have already read the book
or you don’t mind if you read some spoilers.
*Spoiler Alert*
I like Tris’s determination to find the truth and to do what is right, even when it is opposite what she is being told to do. This is especially evident nearer the end of the book when Tris makes her own choices to stand against the leaders of Dauntless and Erudite. She knows that what they have planned is wrong and so she does what she thinks she needs to do. The desire to find the truth and to follow that truth is something we should all strive for.
Which Reading Challenges?
- You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
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