Book Review: Divergent

by Lil' Leia 

Hi guys! Today I will be reviewing “Divergent” by Veronica Roth! OK, first I will tell you why I am doing this at this specific time. The reason is, the movie, starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James, will be released on DVD on Tuesday! Yay!  Anyways, time to focus on the actual review. If you’ve been living under a rock and don’t know what Divergent is (besides it being a book and movie), it’s a story set in dystopian Chicago far into the future, where society is divided into five factions based on human virtues:  Amity (the peaceful and kind), Erudite (the intelligent), Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), and Dauntless (the brave and daring). Every year, the 16 year olds take an aptitude test that says which faction he/she is best suited for, but they don’t all receive one conclusive response, some receive multiple, in which case the person is called Divergent and has to keep that fact secret because the city considers it dangerous. The very next day, they have to choose (regardless of their test result) at the Choosing Ceremony whether to remain in their birth faction and stay with their family, or transfer to another faction and leave their families forever regardless of their test result. If they fail the initiation process for their faction, they become factionless and live the rest of their lives on the street in poverty.

   *SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK OR SEEN THE MOVIE, PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK*

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Beatrice and Caleb Prior are the 16 year old son and daughter of a high ranking government official from Abnegation. Since they are 16, they can choose whether to stay in their own faction or leave and join another one, but first have to take an aptitude test to see in which faction they belong in. Beatrice took her test and her test results showed she was Divergent, a dangerous status that she must keep secret. As an Abnegation, she is supposed to be selfless. She has to care for the needs of others before herself as part of her selflessness. At the Choosing Ceremony, Caleb chooses to transfer to Erudite, but Beatrice is torn between Abnegation and Dauntless. She takes a knife, cuts into her hand, and lets the drops of blood fall to the flaming coals of the Dauntless (Editor’s note of no importance: EXCUSE ME, WHAT?!). Beatrice meets Christina, Will, and Al on the way to the Dauntless compound and they quickly become friends, but she also meets some enemies and rivals, named Peter, Molly, and Drew. Beatrice, who shortens her name to Tris, meets Four/Tobias, her instructor, who also happened to be an Abnegation transfer 2 years before her. Before she becomes a full-fledged member, she must pass through simulations and combat training. The top 10 initiates become members, the rest are factionless. At the end of initiation, Tris comes in 1st place, and becomes a member of the Dauntless along with Will and Christina. Then every Dauntless member is injected with a serum that Dauntless leaders say is a tracker in case anyone goes missing, but in reality it’s a simulation serum that makes her fellow members trek to Abnegation headquarters and plan war. Since she is Divergent, the serum doesn't even affect her. She is soon noticed and dragged to Erudite (who were making war plans against Abnegation and were using Dauntless as an army) headquarters but later escapes to Amity.                                                                                

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That is the basic plot for those of you who haven’t read the book but want or need a more detailed description than the ones given in bookstores and websites. That said, let’s get on to the review! 

So the book starts out a little slow, but it’s for the good of the book because it gradually progresses from that at the beginning to being a little bit fast at the end, and it lets the author build up a good structure for the book, if you know what I mean. I like Veronica Roth’s writing style, for the reasons you can see right above ;).  I also really like how the characters and plot are developed. And I can relate to Tris’s struggle to understand who she is, which also can factor in XD. In short, I LOVED the book, and I hope you do too.  I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. See ya later this week with the movie review!

Theory Linking the Fault in Our Stars, Divergent, and the Hunger Games

                     By Lil’ Leia

Hi guys! This is a theory that came to me the other day— that potentially links The Fault in Our Stars, the Divergent  and The Hunger Games trilogy together, even though they each have different authors. It may not seem that geeky to you, but it is to me— because I am a huge bookworm!  There is going to be a huge amount of parentheses and stuff, so bear with me. Anyway, there are MAJOR SPOILERS for each of these books, so if you haven’t read these books yet, you can either proceed at your own risk or stop reading altogether.  If you did read them, good for you! I present my theory now:

So in TFIOS, as most of you may know already, Hazel and Gus did the thing when they were staying in Amsterdam (as seen partially in the trailer). When Gus died later on, (this would take place directly after the novel) Hazel realized she was pregnant. Nine months later, she gave birth to a girl and nearly died in labor (due to the tumors in her lungs), but in life-saving surgery after the baby’s birth, the doctors decided to take all of her tumors out and make an emergency lung transplant (yes, her cancer was THAT severe).  After the surgery she was cancer-free. Later on she marries Isaac and raises her daughter healthily and happily. Her daughter grows up, gives birth, and the cycle goes on and on until (here we enter the Divergent part of the theory) Amanda Ritter (Edith Prior, Tris’s paternal ancestor) is born. 

The Purity War occurs, the Bureau of Genetic Welfare is established, and an older Amanda Ritter volunteers to participate in the experimental implementing of factions in Chicago.  She makes the video that is shown in Erudite headquarters at the end of Insurgent (book 2 of the Divergent trilogy), erases her memory with a serum, joins Abnegation, and reinvents herself as Edith Prior. One of her offspring joins Erudite, and then about two generations later, Andrew Prior (Tris’s father) is born into Erudite. Soon after, he falls in love with Natalie Wright from Dauntless in school (Tris’s mother, who later uses Prior as her last name), and they transfer to Abnegation together. They marry and, about 10 years later, have Tris and Caleb (Tris’s brother).  

Then the events in Divergent and Insurgent occur.  When in Allegiant (book 3 of the Divergent trilogy) it’s revealed that Chicago was an experimental city for the Bureau, (entering the Hunger Games part of the theory) it is also possible to assume that Panem was also an experimental city that just went awry and declared independence from the US government. (Based on current world news it is implied that sea level rises and global warming continues at their current pace.) That would account for the description of life before Panem (war, global warming. etc.). The US government barely holds power 45-75 years later and collapses; Panem conquests what was left of US possessed land, expands the district systems and its culture, and the events of The Hunger Games trilogy take place.

So… What do you think? I think it’s possible, given that this is totally fictional. I’m going to sign off early, so you can think about the possibility of this. See ya next week!