Divergent (Divergent, #1) in Mock Printz 2026

Feb 06, 2011 Crowinator rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, cliffhangers-ho, school-hard-special-skills-sector, the-future, dystopia-post-apocalypse, 2011-reads

This will be a difficult one for me to review, because I have to figure out why implausible world-building in this book didn't bother nearly as much as implausible world-building in Wither, for example. Maybe I am just a sucker for action. Or maybe it is because Roth doesn't really attempt to explain her five-faction world (there was too much war, people divided into factions to avoid more war, now there's peace but it's fragile because dividing people into narrow boxes never ends well, the end, ...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Christina Getrost rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: actionadventure, science_fiction

A very entertaining dystopian read, for those who liked The Hunger Games. In this future society, everyone lives in Factions, kind of like cults, based on personality type, and our main character Beatrice has grown to age 16 in "Abnegation," whose members are selfless and care only for others, not themselves. They're frumpy and frugal and kind of like a futuristic Amish-nursemaid type. But Beatrice has long felt out of place in this Faction, and wants to choose another when her 16th birthday arr ...more

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Mar 01, 2011 Tiff rated it it was amazing

Shelves: tiffs-favorites, young-adult, dystopian-or-post-apocalyptic, advance-copy, read-in-2011

Fantastic, action-packed dystopian that is being rumored to be "the next Hunger Games" or at the very least "the book you've been waiting for to recommend to Hunger Games fans." I kept this in mind while reading and I'm totally on board with both of those statements!

Enjoyed the world building in this book and loved rooting for the strong female main character, Tris.

The problem with reading a book like this BEFORE it comes out is that I am going to explode from impatience while waiting for book ...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Bethany Miller rated it really liked it

In a dystopian version of Chicago, society is divided into five factions based on the personality traits that each believes to be most important: Abnegation, Dauntless, Candor, Erudite and Amity. This system was put in place to help keep the peace and each faction does the jobs that their traits make them most suitable for. Beatrice has grown up in the faction of Abnegation, which values selflessness most of all. Though she loves her family, Beatrice has never really felt like she belonged. But In a dystopian version of Chicago, society is divided into five factions based on the personality traits that each believes to be most important: Abnegation, Dauntless, Candor, Erudite and Amity. This system was put in place to help keep the peace and each faction does the jobs that their traits make them most suitable for. Beatrice has grown up in the faction of Abnegation, which values selflessness most of all. Though she loves her family, Beatrice has never really felt like she belonged. But the day is coming when Beatrice can make a decision that will change her whole life. She, along with all of the other sixteen- year-olds, will get to choose whether to stay with the faction that they were born into or choose another. Beatrice has always admired the courage, bravery and freedom of the dauntless, who aren’t afraid to draw attention to themselves, but she is torn between pleasing her family and exploring a new side of herself. If she leaves Abnegation, she can never return. Prior to the Choosing Ceremony, all sixteen-year-olds are put through a test to determine which faction they would best fit with. After going through the test Beatrice finds out that she is her result is not one but three factions. She is Divergent, which is not only unusual but potentially dangerous. The day of the Choosing Ceremony arrives, and in the moment of truth, Beatrice decides to choose a new life with Dauntless, and a new name - Tris. But it’s not long before she realizes that making the choice isn’t even half the battle. She faces an initiation that will test her strength both mentally and physically. Only ten of the initiates will get to join the faction. If she can’t pass this test to become Dauntless, she will end up factionless living on the fringes of society with no home or family. As one of the smallest and weakest initiates, Tris must use her secret divergence to help her survive.

Since The Hunger Games, there has been an explosion of teen dystopian novels. Divergent is the first of them to have all of the best aspects of The Hunger Games, but with its own distinctive spin. Though the premise is a little (OK a lot) unlikely, suspend your disbelief and enjoy the wild ride. Tris is a strong character who readers will relate to and root for. What teen hasn’t felt unsure of where they fit in? The romance in the story is well-done (thankfully no love triangle), and, refreshingly, Tris does not lose her sense of self in the relationship as YA heroines are wont to do. Her love interest has just the right amount of mystery and edginess to pique any girl’s interest. The most ringing endorsement that I can give is that as soon as I finished it I picked up Insurgent because I couldn’t wait to see where the story would go next.
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Dec 20, 2011 Jess rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, dystopia

This was one of those books that I enjoyed reading and would easily recommend to teens looking for dystopian fiction, but that doesn't quite hold up to close inspection. Maybe it's not supposed to be examined that closely, but there are other dystopian worlds that do hold up, or that never caused me to doubt the premise (The Hunger Games, of course, but also books like The Knife of Never Letting Go or Feed). So this falls squarely into the category of 'entertainment' rather than 'distinguished l This was one of those books that I enjoyed reading and would easily recommend to teens looking for dystopian fiction, but that doesn't quite hold up to close inspection. Maybe it's not supposed to be examined that closely, but there are other dystopian worlds that do hold up, or that never caused me to doubt the premise (The Hunger Games, of course, but also books like The Knife of Never Letting Go or Feed). So this falls squarely into the category of 'entertainment' rather than 'distinguished literature.'

But what holds it back? Tris is an interesting enough character, with a compelling journey. She's dealing with both day to day issues - surviving her initation into a new faction, the possibility of friendships and maybe even romance in a cut-throat world - and big picture issues, like the fact that she's different and her differences are dangerous.

Okay, here's where I start to unsuspend my disbelief. I buy the everday stuff - it's gripping and keeps you on your toes because, like Tris, you never quite know what's around the corner. But the whole concept of the factions and of being Divergent felt a bit forced. I could buy the idea that society gradually moved towards the factions - that there were ideological differences that led to the splintering of society, but that each group still relied on the others in some way, so they continued to coexist.

I don't buy that things got so extreme that people agreed to radically shift to the faction model of living. I don't buy that most people fit easily into one faction. I don't buy that being Divergent is this special, rare thing. Being Divergent seems to me just like being a normal human being, a person who might lean towards one trait but also encompasses the others. That is humanity, people.

Perhaps these issues get ironed out more in the rest of the series. Maybe it will be revealed that being Divergent is more normal than it seemed in this book, that most people really do struggle with fitting into the single ideals of their faction. Roth certainly leaves herself a lot of room to explore the history of this world, as well as what's happening outside Chicago, so she might tackle this, too.

I also wish, on a style level, that she trusted her readers more, that there was more showing and less telling. I noticed a few sections of dialogue where I felt like the subtext was already in the spoken words, but then Tris went on to explain what she was feeling and how the other person was reacting. Less is more.

All that said, the world of the book is fascinating, and I'd be curious to see how things play out in later books. I'd recommend this to middle school & up - so far the romance is very tame, but there is a fair amount of violence. ...more

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Mar 10, 2011 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: teen, dystopian

4 & 1/2 stars. Beatrice is 16 and must make a choice between 1 of 5 factions that exist. Stay with the faction that she was raised in or go out on her own? I heard a lot of hype about this book being compared to "The Hunger Games", so I had to read it. Some similarties, but I felt Divergent stands well on its own. I would definitely recommend to fans of the Hunger Games series. The last 100 pages were action packed and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. ...more

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Jan 05, 2011 Danielle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, arc, dystopian

At first, I thought this would be too similar to Delirium or Matched, two long, dystopian YA girl novels I've read recently. Despite any similarities, this one stands on its own. A fun, fast-paced story with the right amount of romance and action. And the author is only 22? Wow. ...more

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May 08, 2011 Chelsea rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, series-not-all-pub

Feels a little like The Hunger Games I must admit. However, I do like Divergent. A quick dystopian ya novel, the first in a trilogy (of course). ...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Emily Briano rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, dystopian

Meh. Couldn't get into this one, but I think teens will love all the action.

Reread June 2012: liked this one much better upon my third reading in preparation for Insurgent. I think this series is really taking of with teens now that book two is out. ...more

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