Divergent by Veronica Roth [book]

Divergent by Veronica Roth [book]

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books, 2011
Language: English
Paperback: 576 pages
ISBN-10: 0062024035

Plot Summary:
In a world where everyone is split into categories of people there are five factions that a person can belong to: Candor, Erudite, Amity, Dauntless, and Abnegation. Beatrice has grown up with her family in Abnegation, which is the faction of the selfless. They are not able to think of themselves more than others, they cannot look into mirrors, they all must look and dress alike- they are selfless. During the ceremony that everyone must participate when they come of age, the young adults must go through a series of tests that tells them what faction they will be best suited for. They do not have to choose the faction that they test the highest at, but they may face challenges in being accepted into the faction if they do not have an affinity for it. When Beatrice goes through her tests, she finds that she is able to manipulate them and is marked as Divergent (having an aptitude for many factions), however it is very dangerous to be labelled Divergent and her tester hides her results to protect her. Beatrice ends up choosing Dauntless (the brave, and action leaders of the factions) and her brother shocks everyone by choosing to be a part of Erudite (the intelligence).
 The story follows Beatrice chose to change her name to Tris and become part of the Dauntless, get a tattoo, and be one of the people that actually makes it into the Dauntless faction (they must pass initiation to get into the faction or they are cast away to become faction less). Tris meets a boy leader named Four with whom she starts a relationship and eventually, through many experiences, finds out that he too is Divergent. There are a lot of twists and turns in initiation with the leaders of the Dauntless and the initiates but after Tris is part of Dauntless a war is beginning between the factions and in the end all of Dauntless is given a serum by select members of Dauntless and the Erudite leadership that makes them unknowingly become soldiers sent to kill. Because Tris and Four are Divergent they are not put into a trance and they team up with Tris' family to make the trance simulation stop. In the process Tris' parents are killed and Tris must face her enemies and Four in a brutal attack to save the factions and the people that she loves.

Critical Evaluation:
This book was well written and well crafted. I felt that it was an original story with characters that you felt for and wanted to succeed. The only problem that I had with this book was with keeping the factions separated and remembering all of their intricacies- I think that it might have been better to have more in depth story lines with the different factions, or characters that were more involved with the story from their faction. The faction less characters are also intriguing but I felt that it might be better if there was a map included with the book to show where all of the boundaries and factions lie. The themes of belonging and being who you are I felt were very well done and it made the audience want to understand the characters more, and see them all come together.

Reader's Annotation:
In a world split into five factions, everyone must choose their destiny. But when it is Beatrice's turn to choose, she runs into complications that may change the person that she is forever.

Websites to look Into:
http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/

The Author:
Roth has said that the third book in the series will be out in Fall of 2013.

Awards:
Publisher's Weekly, Best Book of 2011
Amazon.com, Best Book of 2011
Goodreads, Best Book of 2011, Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction

Similar Books:
"Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Booktalking Ideas:
Comparisons to dystopian literature novels
A look into segregation and the idea of warfare

Genre:
Fiction, Action

Interest Age:
13+

Challenge Issues:
Violence
This book contains a large amount of war and death. I would say that it can be a challenge issue because it can be hard to read about the violence and corruption in the novel, but I would combat it with the fact that it is a fantasy novel about defying corruption and attempting to make things right in the world.

Why this Book?
This book is very engaging and popular. I think that it is fun and action packed- it is an entertaining read that looks into societies that are segregated by types of people.