I know it's kind of late to review this book because I finished it 5 months ago. But still, I wanted to share my thoughts and feelings toward this awesome novel.
Author: Veronica Roth
Pages: 487
Synopsis: In Beatrice Prior's
dystopian Chicago world, 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 alongside her fellow initiates to live out
the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical
tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with
devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must
determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with
a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating 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 unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her
seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help
her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
*Synopsis taken from goodreads.com
My review:
If I can only describe the
book in one sentence, that would be "I can't stop thinking about this
book". This is the first dystopian book that I've ever read in my
entire awesome-filled life. Totally awesome. I must thanks the booktuber
because they introduced me to this book.
Beatrice Prior is a
strong heroine. By strong, I did not mean she's capable of killing a
bear with her bare hands. Err...maybe she can. Anyway, she was born into
an Abnegation family, which taught her to become a selfless person. But
Beatrice herself find being selfless is hard for her, unlike her older
brother, Caleb. When she reaches the age of 16, she must take an
aptitude test to determine which faction she belongs to. The result of
the test is surprising. Beatrice did not fit any of the faction. She has
equal aptitude for being an Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless. This
makes her 'Divergent', and she is warned to keep this from anyone. She
could not even tell a soul about it, not even her family. During the
choosing day, not wanting to become like her fellow Abnegation family
and friends, and not wanted to be a power thirsty person like the leader
of Erudite, Beatrice choose Dauntless. She is shocked to find out that
her brother choose to be an Erudite.
During
the initiation stages (the stages where all the new faction-transfer
people need to go through before they are accepted as full-fledged
Dauntless members), Beatrice,now naming herself Tris, made friends with
another faction-transfer initiates; Christina, Al, and Will. They later
become best friends and help each other during the stages. The stages
are broken into three. The first stage is earning how to handle guns and
knives as well as engaging in hand-to-hand combat. The second stage is
simulations, much like during the aptitude tests, in which they will
encounter various fears or scenarios merely symbolic of their fears, and
they are tested by how quickly they are able to calm down. The final
stage is fear landscape test. Tris ranks sixth for the first stage. She
ranks first in the second test, which she calmly endure since she has
the ability to manipulate the situation during the simulation since
she's a Divergent. Later, Peter, Drew and Al (one of her best friend)
attack her and try to throw her into the chasm at the Dauntless
headquarters. Luckily Four (her instructor) steps in and rescues her. Al
later begs Tris's forgiveness, but she rejects him, leading him to
later commit suicide out of guilt.
All of them prepares for the
last stage of the initiation test and Four let Trish to look at his fear
landscape. Trish discover that Four real name is Tobias, and he is the
son of the Abnegation leader, Marcus Eaton. Tobias left Abnegation in
order to escape Marcus abusive behaviour towards him and that he earned
the nickname 'Four' because he only has four fears in his life. The last
initiation test are design to gather all the fears a person has and
they must use the skills from previous test to break free from their
fears. Tris encounters a total of seven fears during the last stages;
getting eaten alive by crows, drowning while trapped in a glass tank,
drowning in the ocean, being burned at the stake by Peter, being
kidnapped by assailants, having an intimate relationship with Tobias,
and being forced to shoot her family. Tris and all other Dauntless
members are injected with a new serum that able to track people in case
they ever go missing. Tris is ranked first in the final ranking. While
still celebrating her victory, Tris realizes that the Erudite plan to
control the Dauntless through a simulation via the new serum and that is
how they will make them attack Abnegation. The serum made the Dauntless
become hypnotized into marching on an attack towards the Abnegation.
However, the serum did not effect Tris and Tobias as they are Divergent.
Together, they need to save the Abnegation before the hypnotized
Dauntless kills all the Abnegation.
What
I really like about this story is the way Tris improve herself over the
course of the book in order to become a strong person. The blossoming
love between Tris and Four also exciting. Although being a Dauntless,
Tris is noted to still have some Abnegation quality in her.
Stars: 8/10
If you haven't read this book yet, I strongly recommend you to do so. Now, I am waiting for the last book in the Divergent trilogy to come out in October. I'm bloody excited! Hurry up October!
Bye~
*Picture taken from goodreads.com
