A WORLD WHERE CHOOSING IS MIGHT. A review about the book Divergent.

By Love Esios

Oh yeah, I just can't get enough of dystopian novels. Right after I finished the highly-recommended The Hunger Games, I started reading another young adult novel. And yes, it's the first book from Veronica Roth's first ever series, Divergent.

Photo from http://www.beyondhollywood.com

The story shows a dystopian Chicago whose society is divided into five factions: Abnegation (the selfless), Candor (the honest), Amity (the peaceful), Erudite (the intelligent), and Dauntless (the brave). Teenagers living in this society should choose which faction they want to belong with by the time they reach the age of sixteen, and that's the dilemma Beatrice Prior, the main protagonist, has to face.

I like the concept of the novel. The idea of dividing the people into faction and forcing the teenagers to make their own decisions have caught my attention. Teens are free to choose whatever faction they like to belong to but their choices are very limited. I think Ms. Roth has clearly established the division among people; which is highly ironic if their main reason for creating factions is to maintain peace and harmony among the people.

I am not really knowledgeable in the technicalities of writing a novel but I feel that there were some scenes in this book that were not properly established. It's like it came out of the blue. As the story progressed, it just focused on the training Beatrice has to complete as a member of her chosen faction but apart from that, the highlight of the story which her being Divergent was not really explained clearly. I have expected intense fighting, more conflicts but then the author dwelled more on conversations and emotions rather than action-pack scenes.

Anyway, despite this, I still love some lines like what Four said to Beatrice in one scene: "But becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how you control your fear, and how to be free from it, that's the point."

Dystopian lovers, I will just give 6 cups of latte out of 10 for this book but this is still an entertaining book to read. As a matter of fact, I have also read the second book, Insurgent and I'm preparing to read the third and last book Allegiant. So go ahead and release the Divergent in you!

WHEN DYSTOPIAN NOVELS BECOME ADDICTING... ~ by Love Esios

One of the book covers of The Hunger Games. Photo taken from Google Images.

I'm not really a fan of dystopian novels. Since I have started reading novels in high school, I have never thought I would actually get engrossed in a story that's kind of dark and gruesome and gory. It turns out The Hunger Games changed that part of me. It took one boring weekday afternoon to try and read the first few pages of the book and after that, I never stopped reading until the last book!

The Hunger Games is the first of the three books in The Hunger Games series (the others being Catching Fire and Mockingjay). The story focuses on a very unlikely competition that is meant to punish and remind the citizens in poverty-stricken Panem that rebellion against the government would have very complicated consequences. The Games was created for the kids to fight among themselves, with only one emerging as a victor. In this first book, you would be introduced to the three main characters of the series: Katniss, Peeta and Gale. You might think that this is going to be a love story set in the dark ages of mankind but no... it's more than that. It might sound like a typical story for some people who have already read young adult fiction with dsytopia in the background. But I guess, there's something on how Suzanne Collins presented the story that made me turn on every page of the book, perhaps thinking that in a few decades, our society will be as vicious and selfish as The Capitol... that the government will resort into punishing kids and teenagers for a crime that the adults have done. How surreal the situation could be? The bloodbath, the injustice...they were all captured by Collins. I found her storytelling very easy to understand, yet she used the simplicity of her narration to give the readers a strong and vivid imagery. And as a reader myself, as long as I can see the scene clearly in my head, hear the characters talking, feel the emotions in their words, then I know I am reading a good book. Truth be told, while I was reading the book, it felt like I was already there, I was also part of that dark society, and I can still see every scene in my head until now! (Okay, now that's scary... hahaha!)

The Hunger Games is a riveting story of injustice and passion set in a violent, dark and gory society that might be our own someday. And I'm telling you, once you start, you won't stop. For that, I'd give a rating of 7 cups of latte out of 10. ^_____^

Enjoy!