Divergent: When I hopped onto the speeding bandwag-I-mean-train
Beatrice Prior lives in a very dystopian Chicago (ah, my hometown), where she has lived a sheltered life within her faction of Abengation. The society is divided up into factions emphasizing a specific virtue and taking the characteristics of that virtue to the extreme. There's Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). From birth to the age of 16, children are brought up in the factions in which they were born, but there is eventually a rite of passage when the child, now a young adult, is called to compete for initiation into their chosen society. A psychological simulation is used to identify one's dominant virtue and is basically like Hogwarts' "sorting hat" - but the results are inconclusive for Beatrice. It turns out that she self-aware during the simulations and can manipulate "the game". Because she strongly embodies multiple virtues and is self-aware, she is Divergent from society's norms and must hide her "gifts" from those who see it as a threat. She decides to go with the Dauntless faction (not really a spoiler since that's where the book really starts) and finds herself jumping onto speeding trains, hopping over buildings, dangling over chasms, and fighting her fears in terrifying simulations to prove herself worthy of the faction. However, her gifts as a Divergent start to expose under intense competition and psychological pressure...
Though I was late to jumping on the bandwagon, I am glad that I eventually got around to reading this one. I love the call-out to Chicago because I'm nostalgic for my hometown, and I love that it preys on my dystopian fears and makes me think about what happens when we don't embrace every facet of our character, even the weak ones. It has just the right amount of violence, politics, pseudo-science, and characterization. However, I don't like the teenage "oh we have immediate chemistry and we're both super special so naturally we belong together and I loooooove you~" plot device. But that's a write-off for me when it comes to YA-lit, so I'm going to move on to Insurgent!
ONE MORE THING:
Yeah, I didn't have much use for the romance. It didn't really bother me, but it didn't add anything to the plot for me, either. I really like Tris. Seems she got a lot of backlash among readers because she wasn't Katniss, but I say we can use as many interesting heroines as possible.
ReplyDeleteAhahaha yay tumblr.
ReplyDeleteBut wasn't the bad writing kind of a distraction? Is it best if skimmed? I'm kind of scared to approach this book.
So the writing wasn't TOO bad, but I do suggest you skim it. Just in case. Be braaaave, oh fair one!
ReplyDeleteGood call-out, Emily! I had to keep reminding myself that she is not Katniss, and that made me appreciate her development much more... she had to work harder because she wasn't raised to be dauntless like Katniss.
ReplyDeleteYA is so lazy with their romances. I know that's a bit of a generalisation, but it really seems like every damn dystopian novel is full of the clumsiest, flung-together romances.
ReplyDeleteI've been umming and ahhing about reading this one. I think I might wait until I have a flight somewhere so I can skim through it to keep myself busy.
Yes, ignore the romance, but the scenery, technology, and faction structure was so creative that I found myself immersed in Tris Prior's world! It's a quick read, so this one would be ideal for a flight :)
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