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magicalmunchkin's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-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
3.0
The first part of the book was great and well written, but after around the halfway mark it started getting a bit slow. Also I didn’t believe the romance between Tris and Tobias at all??
glowfish36's review against another edition
4.0
The first time I tried reading this novel (a few years ago), I found the writing too simple, too bland. I set it down after a chapter or so. This time around, I gave it a second go via audiobook, which was a most excellent decision. The narrator, Emma Galvin, did a lovely job of helping the story come to life and distracting from the writing style.
In any case, I'm awfully glad I gave Divergent another go. Tris is a cool main character, her journey is exciting, and her interior development is slow, steady, and seems well-thought through. I connected with Tris and her hopes and dreams in strange ways (i.e. going so far as to look down upon her choices of boyfriend. #So young and scrawny ;D). I loved imagining myself in a less troubled version of Tris's world, growing up in one of the factions, and how I would've handled the initiations.
There were obviously some plot and narration hiccups here and there. In the beginning, I mostly didn't mind Tris's relationship with Four (I figured it was a good distraction from how terribly she was doing in the initiation process) ... and then it got tiring. I'm not sure why characters in stories always admire each other's muscles/bodies and make-out while on the run, or dodging bullets, or when they're about to die. I had other complaints along the way which were narrated live to my entourage, but none of them seem too important now... (apart from why none of the judges realized she was divergent during her 3rd initiation task?!).
Anyway, I've quite enjoyed this novel in audiobook form, it's been lovely to imagine in such vivid detail what Tris's world is like.
In any case, I'm awfully glad I gave Divergent another go. Tris is a cool main character, her journey is exciting, and her interior development is slow, steady, and seems well-thought through. I connected with Tris and her hopes and dreams in strange ways (i.e. going so far as to look down upon her choices of boyfriend. #So young and scrawny ;D). I loved imagining myself in a less troubled version of Tris's world, growing up in one of the factions, and how I would've handled the initiations.
There were obviously some plot and narration hiccups here and there. In the beginning, I mostly didn't mind Tris's relationship with Four (I figured it was a good distraction from how terribly she was doing in the initiation process) ... and then it got tiring. I'm not sure why characters in stories always admire each other's muscles/bodies and make-out while on the run, or dodging bullets, or when they're about to die. I had other complaints along the way which were narrated live to my entourage, but none of them seem too important now... (apart from why none of the judges realized she was divergent during her 3rd initiation task?!).
Anyway, I've quite enjoyed this novel in audiobook form, it's been lovely to imagine in such vivid detail what Tris's world is like.
heartscontent's review against another edition
5.0
*clears throat and attempts to look professional*
*pauuuuuse*
Oh! Who am I kidding?!
THAT. BOOK. WAS. AWESOME.
*Gushes* ohmygodohmygod! Why didn't I pick this book up before?! I didn't want to put it down. Not even after midnight , but I had to [mainly 'cos my mom whacked me on the head and called me an alien for not feeling sleepy after a reaaaalllyy long day]
*Clears throat*
Anyway, I found myself to be rather...apprehensive to read this book for God-knows-what reason but I mainly wanted to read it because c'mon, no I-don't-know-why-this-book-got-published-and-even-I-could-write-better kind of book would get an almost Five-Star average rating (and I was wondering what the hell the front cover design signified).
Of course I started and well, that's basically all I needed to do, 'cos the rest of it the book took care of.
Thank you Veronica Roth for writing something that blows the readers mind rather than shuts it off (like so many other books I'd recently came across).
I remember reading two lines and going "Ohmygosh!!!!!" then my brain would slap me and say "Continue reading, nimrod!"
And four lines later I'd be all "OhmyGod! Four's here!" and my brain: "Shhhhh! I'm reading!"
So yeah, it's a repeating story.
The story starts off mellow with Beatrice trying to fit in into her Abnegation faction. Where she tries to be selfless, without faking it; quiet, without trying, and not to be curious, without letting it show.
On the day of her Choosing which she attends with her elder brother Caleb, she is categorised as "Inconclusive" but her records are cleaned so that she isn't put in danger.
But on the day she is to choose where she wants to be part of, she picks a faction…that is not Abnegation.
And that makes all the difference.
The thing I like about Tris the best is that she is a deep and strong character, but she still has to grow, something which happens through the journey of the book.
Of course, the hero-*takes a deep steadying breath*-if I don't mention him, that would be the biggest blasphemy in the world. "Four" is a completely AMAZING creature of imagination, to whom I grant the privilege to occupy position 1.5 in my list of Book Boyfriend (1 being Daemon smexy-Black).
He's totally mysterious and protective. (What more can we ask for?)
He's straight forward and BEST at what he does.
Modest, with a healthy dose of surprise and a hint of a bad-boy.
I believe that there are two characters in him one: Four and the other:
Four, the sexy trainee.
But, they make the same person...somehow.
GOD! I've never wished for wanting to give more stars for a book than five, like I felt for this book!
So yeah.
FIVE STARS!
*pauuuuuse*
Oh! Who am I kidding?!
THAT. BOOK. WAS. AWESOME.
*Gushes* ohmygodohmygod! Why didn't I pick this book up before?! I didn't want to put it down. Not even after midnight , but I had to [mainly 'cos my mom whacked me on the head and called me an alien for not feeling sleepy after a reaaaalllyy long day]
*Clears throat*
Anyway, I found myself to be rather...apprehensive to read this book for God-knows-what reason but I mainly wanted to read it because c'mon, no I-don't-know-why-this-book-got-published-and-even-I-could-write-better kind of book would get an almost Five-Star average rating (and I was wondering what the hell the front cover design signified).
Of course I started and well, that's basically all I needed to do, 'cos the rest of it the book took care of.
Thank you Veronica Roth for writing something that blows the readers mind rather than shuts it off (like so many other books I'd recently came across).
I remember reading two lines and going "Ohmygosh!!!!!" then my brain would slap me and say "Continue reading, nimrod!"
And four lines later I'd be all "OhmyGod! Four's here!" and my brain: "Shhhhh! I'm reading!"
So yeah, it's a repeating story.
The story starts off mellow with Beatrice trying to fit in into her Abnegation faction. Where she tries to be selfless, without faking it; quiet, without trying, and not to be curious, without letting it show.
On the day of her Choosing which she attends with her elder brother Caleb, she is categorised as "Inconclusive" but her records are cleaned so that she isn't put in danger.
But on the day she is to choose where she wants to be part of, she picks a faction…that is not Abnegation.
And that makes all the difference.
The thing I like about Tris the best is that she is a deep and strong character, but she still has to grow, something which happens through the journey of the book.
Of course, the hero-*takes a deep steadying breath*-if I don't mention him, that would be the biggest blasphemy in the world. "Four" is a completely AMAZING creature of imagination, to whom I grant the privilege to occupy position 1.5 in my list of Book Boyfriend (1 being Daemon smexy-Black).
He's totally mysterious and protective. (What more can we ask for?)
He's straight forward and BEST at what he does.
Modest, with a healthy dose of surprise and a hint of a bad-boy.
I believe that there are two characters in him one: Four and the other:
Spoiler
Tobias.Four, the sexy trainee.
Spoiler
Tobias, the thoughtful, protective guy.But, they make the same person...somehow.
GOD! I've never wished for wanting to give more stars for a book than five, like I felt for this book!
So yeah.
FIVE STARS!
zutsie's review against another edition
4.0
The novel directly takes us into a dreadful dystopian future. The children, however, are not necessarily suffering like you would come to expect, though there are some issues.
I enjoyed the concept of them having to choose a faction, as well as what those factions stood for, though it seemed illogical to me that they would not be able to maintain ties with other family members in other factions, etc. I just couldn't buy into that, though I understand why it was executed this way. Tris is definitely a better leading lady, far less selfish than Katniss Everdeen (who you all know I have some beef with), so reading about her did not grate on me. I actually really, really liked her as the heroine. She is strong, smart, calculating and enjoyable. Then there is Four. Let's talk about Four. I have mad love for Four. He is strong, he is mysterious (but not in the annoying way), he is just... the more I read about him, the more I adore him. Major character crushing going on here. He's just a character I understand, and I appreciate that.
These books are written for young adults, and it is evident in the writing style as well as emotions that are described and the flow of the story. There is a large amount of teenage angst (I am so glad that I am so over that ridiculous part of life), but not as over the top as these stories can sometimes get. There is plenty of petty jealousy, childish hissy fits and obsession, though it works eventually if you can just bear in mind it is a book for young people still in that period in life, so I suppose they can identify more.
It took me a while to get into the reading style as it was written in first person, present tense, which is always difficult for me to slot into. I did enjoy the electricity between Four and Tris - it was incredibly painful at times, and at others so sweet, so there was that. It is actually a brilliant romance that Roth hit on here, something I actually looked forward to when I got to the scenes for them. There is also at least only one love interest, which is refreshing. The romance - back to that. It is great. Four believes in Tris's strength, not that she is some damsel in distress, and the romance isn't this "if I can't have the other, I will simply die". Gosh and the build up damn near drove me wild, loved it.
There are also a lot of places that blatantly show that Roth is a first time writer, plenty of places she tries for too much mystery and executes with too little gusto, but overall it is definitely not a bad read. Her supporting characters can be entertaining (I really like Will and Christina), but ultimately they are not really robust characters. Roth fills out Four and Tris, but the rest are vehicles to carry the story, no more, no less, which is a pity. The first half of the book is very slow and meandering and seemed pretty pointless in places, but the second half catches and snowballs into something rather good. It is also a quick read, in case you are looking for a light filler between books. I was a bit iffy about how some stuff went down at the end, as it really was a bit of a wreck, what with no finesse and proper build up, but outside of that, I think this is a pretty decent read and would recommend it.
I enjoyed the concept of them having to choose a faction, as well as what those factions stood for, though it seemed illogical to me that they would not be able to maintain ties with other family members in other factions, etc. I just couldn't buy into that, though I understand why it was executed this way. Tris is definitely a better leading lady, far less selfish than Katniss Everdeen (who you all know I have some beef with), so reading about her did not grate on me. I actually really, really liked her as the heroine. She is strong, smart, calculating and enjoyable. Then there is Four. Let's talk about Four. I have mad love for Four. He is strong, he is mysterious (but not in the annoying way), he is just... the more I read about him, the more I adore him. Major character crushing going on here. He's just a character I understand, and I appreciate that.
These books are written for young adults, and it is evident in the writing style as well as emotions that are described and the flow of the story. There is a large amount of teenage angst (I am so glad that I am so over that ridiculous part of life), but not as over the top as these stories can sometimes get. There is plenty of petty jealousy, childish hissy fits and obsession, though it works eventually if you can just bear in mind it is a book for young people still in that period in life, so I suppose they can identify more.
It took me a while to get into the reading style as it was written in first person, present tense, which is always difficult for me to slot into. I did enjoy the electricity between Four and Tris - it was incredibly painful at times, and at others so sweet, so there was that. It is actually a brilliant romance that Roth hit on here, something I actually looked forward to when I got to the scenes for them. There is also at least only one love interest, which is refreshing. The romance - back to that. It is great. Four believes in Tris's strength, not that she is some damsel in distress, and the romance isn't this "if I can't have the other, I will simply die". Gosh and the build up damn near drove me wild, loved it.
There are also a lot of places that blatantly show that Roth is a first time writer, plenty of places she tries for too much mystery and executes with too little gusto, but overall it is definitely not a bad read. Her supporting characters can be entertaining (I really like Will and Christina), but ultimately they are not really robust characters. Roth fills out Four and Tris, but the rest are vehicles to carry the story, no more, no less, which is a pity. The first half of the book is very slow and meandering and seemed pretty pointless in places, but the second half catches and snowballs into something rather good. It is also a quick read, in case you are looking for a light filler between books. I was a bit iffy about how some stuff went down at the end, as it really was a bit of a wreck, what with no finesse and proper build up, but outside of that, I think this is a pretty decent read and would recommend it.
racytay's review against another edition
1.0
Hunger games and Solvent Green and Reached series copycat. Predictable characters and dystopia.
captainwasnotthere's review against another edition
adventurous
4.75
My first trilogy ever, really good.
oznim's review against another edition
4.0
Original Read Date:
May or April 2011
Re-read date: September 24-28 2012
I cannot explain how epic this book was and still is! I'll just try my best.
I love the factions! they're like Hogwart's houses! It is so interesting to have different kind of factions. I love the characters, they're so original and interesting too. Especially Al. i need to know his past. The action is enjoyable, sometimes too harsh but still bearable to read or imagine. The ending. WHAT. A. CLIFFHANGER. FUDGE. well, that's it. I tried my best to write a review.
Peter reminds me of Cato in The Hunger Games even though i have not read the Hunger Games book, i have only watched the movie.
May or April 2011
Re-read date: September 24-28 2012
I cannot explain how epic this book was and still is! I'll just try my best.
I love the factions! they're like Hogwart's houses! It is so interesting to have different kind of factions. I love the characters, they're so original and interesting too. Especially Al. i need to know his past. The action is enjoyable, sometimes too harsh but still bearable to read or imagine. The ending. WHAT. A. CLIFFHANGER. FUDGE. well, that's it. I tried my best to write a review.
Peter reminds me of Cato in The Hunger Games even though i have not read the Hunger Games book, i have only watched the movie.
writer6's review against another edition
2.0
I definitely went into reading this book feeling very excited to read it. Unfortunately, I ended up having very mixed feelings about this book once I finished it. I feel like this book starts out pretty strong, and then starts to feel really repetitive after a while, especially when it comes to how much Roth focuses on Tris' training. The plot does pick up again towards the end, but by that point, it just seemed like too little, too late. I feel like a lot of the characters and the world building that exists in this book ended up lacking a lot of depth. Plus, I feel like Roth didn't do a very good job of developing why Tris being Divergent is such a big deal. Why is it such a bad thing? How does it make Tris so special or unique? By not fully exploring what it truly means for a person to be Divergent, the book as a whole really suffers since Tris' status as being Divergent is a key aspect of the plot. All in all, I went into reading this book being really interested in reading the entire Divergent series, but after having finished reading this book, I'm really on the fence about continuing with the rest of the series.
melodia95's review against another edition
4.0
“El objetivo no es no tenerle miedo a nada, eso es imposible. El objetivo es aprender a controlar el miedo y a liberarse de él.”
La verdad es que hace tiempo me habia negado a leer este libro porque había oido las reseñas de la trilogía y la idea de que iba decayendo poco a poco el nivel de los libros me desalentaba un poco. Aún asi quize ver que me podia dar la experiencia de leer este libro que en su momento llego a ser tan famoso, que hasta tiene una adaptación cinematográfica. No me arrepiento de nada, este libro fue un viaje espectacular. El mundo que crea Veronica Roth en este primer libro es asombroso pues me encanto el hecho de que cada facción tiene una manera de pensar y pueden tener un entendimiento de un mismo concepto de una manera diferente. Hablando de los personajes creo que estan muy bien construidos pues en el caso de Tris, que es nuestra protagonita y es la que cuenta la historia, podemos ver cada capa y el crecimiento que va teniendo conforme pasa el tiempo en osadía. Por otro lado con Cuatro no sabemos mucho de él al inicio y se muestra como una persona muy dura al inicio pero poco a poco gracias al acercamiento que tiene con Tris conocemos más capas de su personalidad y las cosas que lon han marcado que pudieron suceder antes de conocer a la protagonista.
Sé que es un libro que tienes varias cosas valiosas y me gustaría que más gente le de la oportunidad pues del libro aprendemos cosas que pueden ser aplicadas a nuestra vida y vemos lo valioso que esta ante nuestros ojos. Denle aunque sea oportunidad a este libro por lo menos, no se van a arrepentir es muy bueno!!!
La verdad es que hace tiempo me habia negado a leer este libro porque había oido las reseñas de la trilogía y la idea de que iba decayendo poco a poco el nivel de los libros me desalentaba un poco. Aún asi quize ver que me podia dar la experiencia de leer este libro que en su momento llego a ser tan famoso, que hasta tiene una adaptación cinematográfica. No me arrepiento de nada, este libro fue un viaje espectacular. El mundo que crea Veronica Roth en este primer libro es asombroso pues me encanto el hecho de que cada facción tiene una manera de pensar y pueden tener un entendimiento de un mismo concepto de una manera diferente. Hablando de los personajes creo que estan muy bien construidos pues en el caso de Tris, que es nuestra protagonita y es la que cuenta la historia, podemos ver cada capa y el crecimiento que va teniendo conforme pasa el tiempo en osadía. Por otro lado con Cuatro no sabemos mucho de él al inicio y se muestra como una persona muy dura al inicio pero poco a poco gracias al acercamiento que tiene con Tris conocemos más capas de su personalidad y las cosas que lon han marcado que pudieron suceder antes de conocer a la protagonista.
Sé que es un libro que tienes varias cosas valiosas y me gustaría que más gente le de la oportunidad pues del libro aprendemos cosas que pueden ser aplicadas a nuestra vida y vemos lo valioso que esta ante nuestros ojos. Denle aunque sea oportunidad a este libro por lo menos, no se van a arrepentir es muy bueno!!!