There is one mirror in my house.So. Here I am to review the novel that was allegedly created out of The Hunger Games when Veronica Roth decided she could make a load of money if she changed it up a little. I guess that pretty much five factions = twelve districts, the leader of the Erudite (whose name escapes me) = President Snow, and being a Divergent = you’re Katniss Everdeen and you’re sentenced to death for almost eating (and forcing someone else to eat) nightlock berries.
Yes, there are some similarities. Without the Games, Roth pretty much has to jump straight into the Rebellion. Overall, I thought the plot was pretty cheap. The Rebellion itself hardly gets talked about until the last quarter of the book; the middle half is all about training and Tris’s romance with Four; and the first quarter is about the Simulation and the Choosing Ceremony. It is an okay book, but because it’s from a first-person present-tense perspective (hi, Hunger Games!), we don’t get to see anybody’s real opinion except Tris’s–and with regards to Four and she, this is a stumbling block. The romance moves much too quickly and unrealistically. And there were times when the romance went just a little too far–or threatened to do so.
You want to have something to read and you’re in a spot where this is all you have, it’s a pretty good read. It just has a few faults, and I’m not entirely certain it deserves all the hype.
That was a short review. . . .
Rating: 4 stars.
walking in the air. 
I discovered your blog from GTW, and I love it! So…I nominated you for the Liebster Award! http://butterfliesoftheimagination.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/liebster-award-2/.
Thank you so much, Ana! I don't do those tags very often–in your case I might make an exception, if I have time 🙂
Interesting review, Hannah! (Originality, where art thou?). I started this book, but stopped and never finished it. And while I am curious as to what will happen, just reading about the negative feelings for how it ends does not make it a top priority on my to read list…
Aw, thanks, Grace! 🙂 It is an interesting book, but just a shade too over-hyped for how good it really is.
I really liked the romance in the movie, so I'll be curious to see what comes in the book. 🙂
The movie romance was done a bit better, I think. It was one of those movies which is sadly better than its book–like The Hunger Games movies.
I just read this series last weekend. I agree this book was pretty meh. And I don't like present-tense writing! I'm curious though did you read the rest of the series? I thought they were an improvement on the first, and they delved into some philosophical territory that I found unexpected. I'm curious what you thought, if you continued with the series 🙂
Hello Laurz! Nice to hear from you! 😀
I actually like the present-tense writing, but for some reason instead of getting to know the characters like I expected through first-person writing, I actually felt a bit “absent” from them. I didn't build a very good relationship with Tris — I didn't like her much — but it was different when I got to Tobias in Allegiant. Maybe I just relate more to him or something.
I did read the rest of the series but was too lazy to review those books 😉 I don't know which book I liked the best, but I do definitely agree that they got much more philosophical as they went along, and I really appreciated that! It seems to me that very few authors think philosophically these days, and lately I've been finding that some do, which is a nice surprise. I recently read Ally Condie's Matched, which was much more introspective than I expected.
Anyway … I really appreciate your stopping by!