Roth, Veronica: Divergent

Title: Divergent
Series: Divergent #1
Source: Purchased
Format: ebook
Challenge: Debut Author
Status of Challenge: 13/12

Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place in mortal danger. Veronica Roth's young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances.

Thoughts:

I usually try to stay away from over hyped books because it very rarely pays off. Alas, I ended up reading Divergent because a friend lent it to me on my nook LOL you never say no to free books. Never. I have to say I understand why it's so popular, it has an addictive quality to it. The pacing is great and you just want to keep reading. However, to me, the book fell apart on the second half. The twist, is one very common nowdays (it is if you have read Possession by Elana Johnson or Memento Nora by Angie Smibert). And I was a) not surprised, b) bored that I had to read yeat again another YA with a ******  ****** twist. As well, I would like to comment that dystopian Chicago, seemed very much like you know, Chicago. When I read dystopian or science fiction, I want to see new worlds, new places. I wasn't impressed with "dystopian Chicago" at all.

Tris our heroine, is very likeable, and the book is told from her point of view. I have to say, she takes so many punches that at one point I really asked myself, why? Is there really a point to all the punches Tris is getting? Or is all in the name of "strong female character" ? I am undecided, but the fact that I had to ask myself those questions lowered this book rating for me. Tris also has a couple of spoiled brat moments, like over reacting when her secret boyfriend doesn't acknowledge and omg-why-do-you-like-me- if-I'm-not-pretty. These two moments didn't fit, in my opinion, with the TRis that had been developed throughout the story and again, I was bothered.

Romance! I enjoyed it. A lot. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil it, the romance came as a surprise for me and I hope it does to you too. I really liked the characters in this book, I know I complained (but that's my thing) but never did I want to throw the book in the trash (beside I read this in my nook so that'd be a no-no anyway LOL). I don't think this book is perfect or worthy of five stars, but I'm intrigued enough to want to read more of Roth and see how her writing evolves :)