Throwback Thursday: Choices, Factions and Well-Written YA Romance - Review of "Divergent" by Veronica Roth

(Seeing as how I'm kind of obsessed with this series since seeing the movie, I thought I'd bump this review up and post it for Throwback Thursday a lot sooner. Enjoy!)

**Originally Posted on cj's bookshelf on January 3, 2012**

Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication Date: May 3, 2011

Reading Level: 16 and up

Synopsis: (from Goodreads) -

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, 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 to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating 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 a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her. 

My Review:

In the library system where I work, you can always tell the really good books.  When brand new books come out, there's always at least a month or so where those books are constantly on hold and anyone who wants a turn just had better take a number.  The really good ones are on hold for a couple of months and the really, really, REALLY good ones are on hold for about six or seven.  "Divergent" came out in May 2011 and it still has a hold list rolling out the door and down the road.

But just because a book is popular doesn't make it good (naw - DUH!)  My readership is well aware the issues I had with "Uglies" and that is one that continues to be on the request list.  But, with the Christmas holidays coming up and my need for something on the "light and fluffy" side during this break (seeing as how I've been tackling "The Wheel of Time" series the past two months, most anything else would qualify as light and fluffy by comparison), I decided to give "Divergent" a shot.

I will be as upfront about this as I can be - "Divergent" gave me a distinct "Uglies" vibe about halfway through the book.  Could I point to anything specific?  Not really.  Maybe it was the aspect of teenagers teaching teenagers how to do stupid things (like zip-lining down a skyscraper for the fun of it? Yeah, that's an "Uglies" thing).  It could be the Dauntless training Tris and Co. have to go through, but "The Hunger Games" did something similar and it didn't bother me there (even though the Dauntless training is more or less a period of "Yeah, we know you're going to be accepted into Dauntless - when is stuff going to start happening?") However, that feeling didn't last (Thank Gallifrey) and "Divergent" turned out to be much better.

One thing I enjoyed about this book is that the important surprises were well-placed and were actually - well, surprising (hm... fancy that).  I was so impressed by one in particular that I'm not even going to mention it here because I'd like someone else to be surprised by it.  I will give you a hint - it's not the reveal that Four is Tobias (let's be honest - that one was telegraphed in by the end of chapter 6.  At least, I think it was chapter 6 - I don't remember specifics.  But don't get the impression that I was bothered by that).

Another thing - and this is something I harp on quite a bit, but I certainly can't be the only one who feels this way - I was so happy that there are no contrived and crappily-shoe-horned-in love triangles in "Divergent."  There was a moment where that could have happened, but thankfully Al bit the dust and Tris and Four are able to let their budding romance blossom as the plot progresses.  In fact, the Tris/Tobias pairing is one of my favorite things about this book specifically because there is very little drama around the relationship itself.  Oh sure, the both of them have their own issues and problems they deal with individually, but they kind of help each other through those problems and it's quite a joy to read.  It's one of the more better-written romantic relationships I've read in YA fiction in quite a long time.   

(That being said - Woe betide the story if some heretofore unknown trollop or he-man swoops in to make an unnecessary and idiotic love triangle.  This story has plenty of outward drama and conflict to create an enjoyable plot)

I have to talk about the ending a little bit because that was my favorite part of the story. Honestly! I'm not being snooty about it or anything.  The climax was one of the most satisfying things I've read in a while and I'll tell you why that is - it's because I could follow what was happening.  Many action-packed endings I've read have so much action and description going on that I can hardly tell who's doing what, where the characters are, who's died and who's on our side.  Roth kept this surprisingly simple and to-the-point without sacrificing any of the intensity or edge-of-your-seat-ness that makes a good climax.  Oh, and I'm quite pleased that Tobias didn't end up being captured by the Dauntless/Erudite/Fishbait faction so Tris has to spend all of the next book pining for him.

A note on the setting - the summary says that this takes place in a futuristic Chicago and perhaps it does, but the specific setting really doesn't matter.  I think there was one specific mention of a certain building in Chicago (and it shows how important that mention was that I don't remember the name of the building), but this could have taken place in the futuristic version of any city, really.  But if that's what Roth wants it to be, it's not a terrible bother.

Where would I set "Divergent" on my Sliding Scale of Excellent Dystopias? Since I just made that up, I would have to say it ranks with "Matched" - that is slightly below "The Hunger Games," but heads and above better than "Uglies" or "The Bar Code Tattoo."  Worth your time to pick up and certainly worth your time to finish so you can feverishly anticipate the next installment (titled "Insurgent" and due out May 2012).

It's Our Choices More Than Our Abilities - Review of "Divergent"

After seeing Divergent yesterday, it took all my willpower not to march straight back to the box office and purchase a ticket for the next screening (well that, and I was with a friend and we were also both ready to go home). In fact, I'm sitting here thinking "Why isn't this out on DVD yet so I can watch it over and over??" It's just so good!

I hadn't read any reviews for Divergent before seeing it, but now I'm noticing a lot of negative stuff from the High And Mighty Critics (which, just transpose my thoughts on the people who determine Oscar nominees to the Elite Literati Movie Critic class and I think we can all agree on what my feelings on what they think are). To which I reply - bullshit. And I'm going to give my ten minute rebuttal.

Yes, we've all seen that Divergent is being compared to The Hunger Games. But the similarities between the two go as follows:

1 - They're both young adult dystopian novels.
2 - They both have female lead protagonists.

And... that's about it for similarities. Which, I guess doesn't make for compelling print media for the low-information crowd, but whatever. In reality, these two stories are vastly different. And here is where I'm going to enter spoiler territory for both the book and the movie, so if you have neither read the book nor seen the movie, now is the time to turn away (and get yourself to the library or bookstore or movie theater and correct this problem - for it is indeed a problem and lacking on your part).

The story starts out brilliantly with Beatrice Prior (played by Shailene Woodley) narrating the opening while we see images of a futuristic Chicago - which has either severely gone the way of Detroit, or was incredibly made-up in CGI to look like a complete ruin. Beatrice explains that, in her society, people are divided into five factions: Abnegation for people who value selflessness, Amity for people who value kindness, Candor for people who value honesty, Dauntless for people who value bravery, and Erudite for people who value intelligence. And when I say these factions value these traits - I mean that those traits are they're entire lives! Anyone who doesn't live up to the faction ideals is a weirdo at best, Factionless at worst. Beatrice is from Abnegation, but she and her brother Caleb, are old enough to be part of the Choosing Ceremony, where children from the different factions can decide to stay in the factions they were born into, or they can transfer to a faction that they feel they are most suited for. But before Ceremony takes place, they are subjected to a mental test that will tell them where their innate tendencies lie and that's supposed to help them make their decisions.

What I love about the opening narration is that it's not just a straight info-dump - it's also a vehicle to show how Beatrice doesn't know what she should choose. She's never felt totally selfless, but she knows it would hurt her parents if she left Abnegation. She admires Dauntless most of all, but, again, Dauntless and Abnegation are such opposites. Turns out, when she takes her test, she discovers she's Divergent - which is someone who doesn't fit in any one faction. And Divergence is a threat to the society - if anyone discovered she was Divergent, she would be killed.

Nothing like a hefty dose of "You're So Different You Might Die" to usher you into adulthood, right?

At the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice chooses Dauntless - the brave faction. Although "bravery" most of the time manifests itself more like "stupidity" (they don't get on the train like normal, sane people. To prove they have no fear, they run and jump on the damn thing while it's running at high speeds!)

(We all know which faction I would NOT be joining, right?)

But Beatrice - now styling herself as Tris (because Beatrice is a dopey Abnegation name) - proves herself continually through the eyes of her trainers. Including Four (played by Theo James) - who is the best Dauntless has to offer, and also the most mysterious and the hottest.

What sold me on the book when I read it is also what sells me on this movie - the story and the characters. Not just Tris (although her storyline with her family is compelling as hell), but also Four's background. I don't want to give it away, even though I gave the spoiler alert (some things you have to discover on your own). But I will say that I love how he isn't all broody and emo, like what often happens in popular YA novels nowadays. Even though we're meant to think he's the dark, hot, and grim love interest, there are so many levels to his character - as Tris discovers when Four takes her into his own fear landscape to practice the mental component of Dauntless training.

I have to take about the main leads. Because even though Tris is the main protagonist, Divergent is just as much Four's story as it is Tris's - and as their relationship grows and blossoms into something amazing, it becomes a story of two halves. First of all, I LOVE that their relationship is given time to grow organically, which makes the characters seem even more believable. And I'll be honest, when the trailers and the promo images started coming out, I wasn't sure how I felt about Shailene Woodley and Theo James in the lead roles. But the pair of them totally blew me away! (we're going to blame the marketing department on the low expectations here). Even from the first scene where Tris jumps into the underground Dauntless compound from a five(ish) story building and Four is there to greet her, the whole theater crackled with their chemistry (sorry for the cliche there, but I couldn't think of what else to call it). In their strange little Dauntless way, it was like they were friends right at the offset and then their friendship became something more - especially when Four discovers that Tris is Divergent - but he doesn't report her, even though he's in leadership. In fact it comes out that Four is Divergent as well (this revelation slowly builds up until the climax where the Dauntless are forced to become mind-numbed zombie soldiers thanks to a control serum that doesn't work on Divergents, but they both have to pretend that they are under mind-control in order not to get killed).

The leads are awesome. No doubt about that. But what about the supporting cast?

Well - Ashley Judd is in this movie *sigh*. I'm not a fan of Ashley Judd just because I just find her to be a contemptible person in general. But she plays Tris's mother and I knew she's not in it much and that she dies at the end, so I felt I could overlook her character (but can I just say - I had the hardest time believing that she really had any feeling toward Tris. And when they're running for their lives under gunfire and they're firing back, I was just "Ashley, have you EVER held a gun in you entire life??")

Happily, we have Kate Winslet as the antagonist, Jeanine Matthews. And similar to how Woodley and James worked so well together, Winslet is just as good on her own as the villain. It's evident from the beginning that her character is not to be trusted, but the way she plays it - you want to like her, you want Tris to like her. But at the same time, you know she's bad news. The ending confrontation only shines because of that. So, second only to the relationship between Tris and Four, I adored Kate Winslet in this movie.

The rest of the cast is pretty good. If I had one complaint about the book, it's that there were so many characters and so many names to keep track of. Veronica Roth does an excellent job of keeping track of so many plotlines and personalities, but I had a hard time keeping up in places. Luckily, the movie streamlined a lot of these characters into a core group - and I really only remembered one name - Christina, played by Zoe Kravitz. Mostly because the character made herself memorable and it's a particularly hard name for me to forget :) Christina is a Dauntless transfer from Candor and she and Tris become fast friends. I think she had a love interest of her own in the book, but it was cut from the movie, which I think was a good thing. She had plenty to do as Tris's sidekick (of sorts) and she was the unofficial ringleader of the other Dauntless intiates. And that's all they really needed there - other than that one douchey guy that tried to kill Tris, but he was quickly forgotten (at least, for me).

Basically, Divergent captured the spirit and the tone of the book and gave us all a great look into this world. The set design is amazing and the CGI effects are stellar (my favorite part is the scene with Tris on the zip-line flying through buildings and seeing the city in a way she's never done before - that's where you really feel like she's learning to be part of her faction and you're happy for her). The way they treated Divergent gives me hope for the next movie - which, I find Insurgent to be a weaker story, simply because it gets padded out waaaaaay too much narratively (I think you could cut out 100 pages of that thing). But I'm hoping the movie will pare it down to the essential story elements and that it might be better than the book (which, believe you me, is not something I say very often).

Anyway - Divergent is awesome, just like the book on which it's based (so I guess we can add a third similarity between this and The Hunger Games). If you loved the book, you'll love the movie. If you've never read the book, you'll still love the movie. If you hated the book... well, we need to talk about your life choices.

(More Tris and Four, please!)