Divergent by Veronica Roth

3 stars

“A brave man acknowledges the strength of others.”  

I remember this was an early read of 2014, when I was about 13/14 (technically 13 because I read it near Easter time). My best friend was obsessed with the movie and took me with her for her second trip to the cinema to see Divergent (I went because it got me out of hanging out with this boy who was kind of accidentally my boyfriend). Anyway, I got pretty obsessed too so immediately I told my mum I wanted the book. Shortly after, being the absolute legend she is, I found it sitting out for me on the morning of Easter Sunday. I adored it.

The funny thing about Divergent is that while I love the first book, Divergent, the other two don't seem to take my fancy up at all. I read them shortly after the first one but they just didn't seem to compare for me. I really loved the way the factions worked in Divergent and I think I wanted to see more of that. I don't think it has that much to do with the writing or general quality of the other two books. It more or less has to do with the fact it wasn't what I wanted and I didn't tend to enjoy it.

I love the idea of Dauntless and I love reading about it. I could never be in dauntless but god, it is so fun to read about. I can see myself being in Amity even though I long for knowledge, I don't think I could possibly handle Erudite. It would be cool to read more about Candor though. I'm obsessed with the whole concept of these factions, although in theory, they're probably the worst idea ever. All the qualities are good qualities and I think it would be pretty impossible to determine only one out of all of them. These impracticalities are what makes it so fun to read about though, who reads to read about the world they're in. If I read of the world I'm in, I'd be reading about reading and school and band.

I honestly skimmed past the last about 80 pages because I'm not entirely about all that. I just really love all the faction and initiation stuff. Although, The Hunger Games are a bit the same for me. I could really give or take the whole uprising thing. The first time round it's interesting but for a reread, I'd rather just read what I loved and I loved everything else so much.

Although, I love Divergent, it didn't blow me away. Therefore, I am only rating it three stars and not four or five. I do this because my opinions on Divergent especially are personal preferences and very much my personal opinions. I don't have a lot to say on it, in terms of plot and characters and world building so I can't give much of an in depth review of this one.