Book Review: Divergent

by Veronica Roth

Beatrice has a gut-wrenching decision to make. At sixteen, she must choose which faction of her dystopian society she will join for the rest of her life. She has always lived in the Abnegation sector where everyone puts the needs of others ahead of their own. And while she loves the tranquility and peace of Abnegation, she may leave her family forever to join one of the other sects like Candor, those who are utterly honest, the Amity, those who value peace above all else, the Erudite, who cherish knowledge, or the Dauntless, the brave ones.

Beatrice is tested to help her understand which faction is best for her, but the results are murky and unhelpful, so she must make this life-changing decision without guidance. She realizes that if she chooses the wrong faction and fails the initiation tests she will be a banished from society and left as a homeless outsider.

She makes her decision only to discover that passing the initiation tests may not be possible for her. The challenges are extremely difficult and to complicate her life, Beatrice learns of a deadly conspiracy that threatens her and her family.

If you liked Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, you’ll enjoy Divergent as well. Both feature strong female leads, budding romances and exhilarating action sequences, all set in dystopian futures. And like Hunger Games, Divergent promises a trilogy with the next installment due in 2012. Plus, movie deals abound as The Hunger Games movie comes out in March of 2012 and a movie adaptation of Divergent is in preproduction. Read the books. Watch the movies.