elija_20's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
As someone who watched the films first and loved them, I can confidently say the books are SO much better. I loved all the little details and plot points that the film missed and just the description of Tris’ emotions that couldn’t be translated to film.
One piece of advice I would give if you are reading this after watching the films is that the characters of Tris and especially Four are (in my opinion) very different to the books compared to the films. I would recommend starting the books with this in mind and you will enjoy it and relate to the characters better.
Even if you haven’t watched the films, oh my goodness I would recommend this book to anyone. Cant wait to read the next one.
Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Confinement, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, War, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault
Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Body shaming
pagewanderer_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Gore, and Gun violence
sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm not sure if my younger self would have appreciated this book more than my older self. I'm in my early 30s and I still enjoy reading young adult novels, this novel just didn't have enough action or excitement for me.
I wanted to see what the hype was and why this particular series was made into a movie franchise. This really wasn't as exciting or good as I expected it to be and therefore I feel let down and I don't have the desire to finish the series so I don't think I'll find out what happens in the story and I'm not that let down by not finding out all the secrets to this series.
I'm giving this 3 stars out of 5
Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cursing, Misogyny, Murder, Bullying, Slavery, Kidnapping, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Gore, and Death
nathaliereading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Vomit, War, Death, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Suicide, Bullying, and Child abuse
r0ry_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, War, Child abuse, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Suicide, Murder, Confinement, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol
sarahflanders's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Grief, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, War, Gun violence, Classism, Death of parent, and Gore
chloe_23's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Spoiler
I honestly don't like how Tris basically hated Marcus just from being in Tobias' fear landscape, seeing as she hasn't gotten to understand or know Marcus yet.Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual content
readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
That being said, I think this is one of the few examples where the movie is better than the book. The plot in the movie is much more cohesive, covering important details without repetition and dragging them out, and characters that are much more consistent in personality. I also wasn’t a big fan of the plot bouncing around.
By cohesiveness I mean that there were just so many moments that could have been combined, altered, or switched around for a more compact story. I think each moment added something but it could have been done differently, like in the movie. There is so much more focus on the goals because of how everything is put together.
The book also has tons of repetition and drawn out arcs without fully delving into them. That applies to the characters as well as plot. I felt like we constantly were hearing how strong Tris is and how much she doesn’t want people to see her as weak, and there were moments that displayed that better in her actions. It could have been left at that, like in moments where she thought about comforting Al or Caleb, and decided not to. If anything it bothered her to see that “weakness” displayed. I like that Tris is a flawed character who feels she has to prove herself, especially given her age, but it became overkill at times. We see that Tris is strong, and that she’s worried about people not seeing her as strong, so it didn’t need to be states so much. There was also just so much of Tris getting through all the challenges and sims to become dauntless, which in retrospect is a subplot to the major plot. I think the movie was better at showing how she was navigating the world as Divergent and finding out what that meant in the midst of her training.
I also liked the personalities for the characters more in the movie, because we see moments of that in books, but it can be a bit inconsistent or less favorable. I think Four and Tori are better portrayed in the movies.
Ultimately I think what is happening here is a big plot that is so dependent on who they are and where they fit in and other aspects that movie or shape the plot get overlooked. It also is not as creative as I remembered. Once more, with the movie outshining in terms of world building.
Spoiler
Some noticeable changes or moments I marked down were: Four being drunk, Uriah bringing Tris to the zipline, more friction with Christina like with capture the flag, Edward being stabbed and deciding to be factionless, side characters like Molly and Drew having more visibility in the books, Tris’ mom visiting her in Dauntless compound, Four not helping Tris through the sim and the whole sim process being different in comparison to the movies, Jeanine being less involved and a bit more callous rather than smart in her presentation, Caleb deciding to be factionless once finding out what Erudite was up to, and how Jeanine wasn’t even in the ending (although this explains why she was left to live which the movie failed to do). The book ending was more lackluster. I also wasn’t a big fan of Tris hitting Four while knowing what his father had done to him. Especially with no apology and her being more upset about him embarrassing her than anything. For the plot being her having Abnegation traits, it didn’t feel on par with this nature she’s supposed to have. The book was also a bit darker, with Tris being sexually harrassed and assaulted on multiple occassions.However, despite all the criticisms, I can still see why it got adapted because there is a lot of potential and you still end up invested in the characters.
Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Confinement, Gore, Sexual assault, Suicide, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Violence, War, Blood, Domestic abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Vomit, Alcohol, Grief, and Mental illness
Minor: Child death
Homelessness, comment about scalping, near-drowning.hayleyvem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Gore, Kidnapping, Violence, Xenophobia, Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Deadnaming, Medical content, Genocide, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
kenzie_simone789's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Violence, Gore, Gun violence, War, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Drug use