Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Divergente

Before getting into my thoughts on the book I want to mention that this was a reread after first picking it up around 2015. I read again out of curiousity after forgetting a lot of the plot and wanting to compare it to the movies.

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.

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gerzonvillegas's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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hayleyvem's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

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this_is_lee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is one of the first ones I remember loving and obsessing over. I recognize that it is far from a masterpiece and that the author is problematic but I also am able to so easily fall into the world and characters that Roth created. I love the flaws we see and the amount of politics that are on display.
The Divergent series will alway bring comfort to me (except for Allegiant when needs to get thrown out.)

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onmywaytobefamous's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is the best book I’ve ever read in my entire life and it will stay that way forever. Divergent made me fall in love with reading. Of all the books I’ve read, Tris is one of the only character I can relate to so she’s special to me. Moreover, I love Four with my whole heart. I love the story, the plot and the dialogues. I love the parts I hate, (because some scenes that are meant to be hated and they are well done).
So, thank you, V. Thank you for writing the 14-year-old me her favorite book… it is still my favorite book, more than 5 years later.

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aravenclawlibraryx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com

I recently reread Divergent with the goal in mind to actually start reading books that I own in an effort to cull the every growing pile of books I have. It’s been a bit slow going, if I am being honest but I’m making every effort to do so.

That being said, I am going to post my old review but if I have new thoughts to add to my old review, I will add them via parentheses and italicizing the statement. I don’t have much to add to my old review as it pretty much sums up what I felt while rereading this book.

I understand all the fuss surrounding this series now. I get it. It was a pretty good book but it wasn't great. I didn't fall in love with it like I expected too. I had heard so many things about this book and the series as a whole that I truly expected to love it. Instead, I'm just left feeling eh about it.

I think maybe it was Tris as a narrator. She is just so damn dull. (This is still incredibly accurate. I felt like Tris was even more boring the second time around. She did things and said things that just drove me wild. She had the personality of flour, to quote Louise from Bob’s Burgers. A lot of her decisions just didn’t make any sense to me.) I understand that she comes from a very....bland faction (for lack of better words) but still. I felt no real emotion emitting from her. She described everything and just told us what was going on. I couldn't only handle so much of that. I hope she gets a bit of a personality boost in the next book.

What I did like about this book was the unique aspects of factions. Where factions are based on personality traits, similar to Hogwarts houses. I really liked that. I hope that we get to learn more about the different factions like Amity. I would also like to learn more about how these factions came to be. I didn't get much of the history of the world Tris lives in.

Overall, I liked this book but I wasn't in love with it.(While rereading this book a second time a thought occurred me. It felt like I was reading a brand new book. I only remembered bits and pieces of the book. That is certainly not a good thing) I want to continue it, though, because the concept intrigues me. I hope there are more of the other factions along with how Divergences came to be. Plus, I have heard that the ending of the series is infuriating (I don’t remember what the big ending was supposed to be so I suppose that is a good thing) and I'm curious to know what could even happen to make people get so mad. (Probably something relating to her and Four. They are such a mismatched pair, if I’m being honest.)

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filipa_maia's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I've read this book for the first time in 2011 and now, once again, 10 years later. The first time, it was a solid 5 stars... now, with a different maturity, I'll give it 4 stars because, despite all the blood and violence, is so young, innocent and pure.

I really like this story: a society divided into factions, young people having to choose where they want to spend the rest of their lives (knowing that if they choose a different faction than the one they born in it means having no more connections with their families and friends)... it is so cruel, such a difficult decision for 16 year olds to make. Even after they choose their faction, there are still the risk of not acing the tests and become Factionless (yikes!).

I really would like to know how different factions treat, and process, their new members. Since Tris chooses the Dauntless we never knows what happens in the other factions (and my curiosity kicks in).

This book is fun and really enjoyable. The characters are interesting and relatable - even the bad ones - and I rediscover my crush on Four (but it feels kinda creepy now, that I'm 30 years old... oh well!).

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