Divergence

Divergent by Veronica Roth

“You are someone who is aware, when they are in a simulation, that what they are experiencing is not real.”

But little of what Tris experiences in her futuristic dystopian society set in Chicago is real. Split into 5 factions, citizens must conform to the ideals of one and choose to do so for the rest of their lives. Those who do not conform to this faction society are Divergent. But being Divergent is dangerous, a secret best kept hidden, or sure death is the fate that awaits.

I used to think this was some cheap Hunger Games rip-off. I placed the books, which I got from a used book sale, on a shelf and said I would never read them unless I had nothing else to read.

Then I saw the movie.

I was stunned. This was not the Hunger Games. This was more like The Giver, one of my favorite books in the world, mixed with the terror and “fake world” of the Maze Runner, mixed with… Top Gun level romance?? I know. I’m confused too.

I was mesmerized by the dark world Tris was a part of and horrified with the intriguing plot. I told myself I didn’t want to watch the whole movie, but I couldn’t stop. I needed to know what happened. I felt as though I was in the Dauntless compound with Tris. I wanted to fight alongside her. I was truly amazed.

Though the book has some odd sentences, modifiers that seem to be missing, and strange transitions in the middle of chapters, I cannot give this book anything less than 5 stars. The plot is too intriguing. I urge anyone who thinks this is a Hunger Games wannabe to get off their high horse, like I did, and pick up this book and see where it takes you.

You might just spiral off the side of a building.