Divergent

Nice job, Kimberly Burton!
Roth, V. (2011). Divergent. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

The Hunger Games trilogy, a series
very similar to the Divergent series.

Two years ago, I flew through Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy. After completing the third book, I felt sad that such a wonderful series was over and wondered if there was anything similar to it in the world of young adult fiction. This past fall, I found that Veronica Roth had written a similar series and became immediately engrossed when I started reading the first book in the series, Divergent.

Book cover.

I've long been a fan of dystopian/post apocalyptic literature (The Giver, Anthem, Fahrenheit 451), which could be the most significant reason that I so thoroughly enjoyed reading the chronological/progressive plot line featured in Divergent. Set in what seems to be a futuristic version of modern society, the world in which the main character/protagonist, Beatrice, lives is divided into 5 factions--factions from which every member of society must choose to live upon turning 16 based on the faction with which their personality and natural aptitude best fits. Beatrice goes from living in the selfless, service oriented Abnegation faction to the Dauntless faction, where she learns to live a life of risk and bravery. Upon switching factions, Beatrice learns that she is "divergent," or that she strongly exhibits the characteristics of multiple factions--which she comes to find out is considered a dangerous thing. Beatrice, or Tris as she comes to be known when she joins Dauntless, soon learns that a conspiracy has been developed to destroy her former faction and she inadvertently becomes a leader of a plot to overthrow the conspiracy. 

The conflict of the book seems to shift throughout the story. At the beginning, it seems that Tris is struggling with trying to fit in by determining the faction in which she truly belongs. Thus, the conflict is man vs. self. However, at some points, Tris battles significantly with other people, making the conflict man vs. man. For instance, some members of her new faction--Dauntless--try to kill her as she becomes a threat to them during a competition to join the faction. Ultimately, it seems to be Tris against the downfall of her society, rendering the conflict man vs. society. 

Next on my reading list...

The intrigue supplied by the story makes it no surprise that Divergent has won several awards. It received the Goodreads Choice Award for Favorite Book of 2011 as well as Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction. The book has also spent numerous weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for Young Adult literature. Thankfully, one of the features of the back matter of the text is an excerpt from the sequel to Divergent--Insurgent--which I am most interested in reading.