Insurgent (Divergent Trilogy, Book 2)

Insurgent by Veronica Roth 

First of all, I want to point out that this is book two in the Divergent Trilogy. If you haven't yet read Divergent, you should check out the review I wrote a year ago. Actually, no. I've gone ahead and googled "Divergent Review" for you. Pick any of those and read them. The one I wrote was terrible. Or just go ahead and skip the review reading and just get your hands on a copy and read that sucker. It rocks. That's all you really need to know about it.

...Anyway...

Back to Insurgent.

Book Description:

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.
New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature. 

Generally speaking, sequels are rarely as good as the original. There are exceptions, but Insurgent wasn't one of them. To be fair though, Divergent is one of my top five favourite books ever (Although that list would now have The Hunger Games in spot four, pushing out The Zombie Survival Guide), and it's a little hard to live up to that.

That isn't to say Insurgent wasn't incredible.

The character development in this novel is excellent. Tris is pretty broken after the events at the end of the first book. The right amount of broken though. All of the strength she gained is still there, but she's also dealing with a lot of grief and guilt. She makes some pretty questionable decisions. We get to see a lot more into the real Four, who is now mostly refereed to by his given name Tobias - which I am not really a fan of. The name itself is fine, It just doesn't suit him. When Beatrice Prior joined her new faction, she became Tris. And, sure, she is still Beatice, but the name just feels wrong on her now. Just as Tobias feels wrong on Four. I got used to it, but I didn't like it.

Lets talk about the Tris/Four relationship for a minute. In Divergent, it was HOT and STEAMY. It was also sweet and innocent. Four is all broody and mysterious. Tris is a little clueless about boys. I loved everything about it. In Insurgent...man. Several times you wanted to sit one or the other (or often times both) down and say, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" It's secrets and lies and arguments and...just really frustrating. I get it though. Tris is, as I said, broken. And, also, still a bit clueless about boys. Only sixteen, and grew up in a faction that barely held hands let alone anything else...yeah, I guess she has every reason to be clueless. And Four...well, he has his own set of issues, not the least of which a pretty terrible childhood. Add to that the stress of all of the THINGS that are happening in their world. Big, scary, horrible things. Contrary to some of the less positive reviews I've read, their relationship makes sense at this stage. That being said, I saw what I hope was a glimmer of things turning around for them in book three. I really hope that's the case - that their relationship grows into something deeper and less frustrating.

The ending is what really pulled things together for me. Not the just-before-the-ending part. The part just before the big cliff-hanger-plot-twit reveal was expected and a little more than cliché. But the final bit, the cliff-hanger-plot-twist - excellent. Just exactly the kind of thing that makes you not want to wait until Fall 2013 for book three. Even if you end up hating the sequel, you will still want to read the next one because of this ending. So fantastic.

 On a scale from Totally Awesome to Horrifically Awful, I'd give it a Quite Awesome. Not as good as it's predecessor, but worth reading if you've read the first one.

But, seriously, you can buy Divergent from Amazon by clicking here. Yes, that is an affiliate link, but even if it wasn't I'd still be telling you to go there to buy it. It's incredible, and the paperback is just 10 bucks. If you have 10 bucks, like YA literature and dystopian futures, I am ordering you to buy this book and read it. If you haven't already. Because otherwise that would just be silly.

My Top Five Favorite Books of All Time (To Date)

1. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Series by Douglas Adams - Ok, so this is technically 5 books, but I own The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is all the books in one, so it counts as one. Disagree? Too bad. Make your own list. If you haven’t read Hitchhiker’s Guide, you should go do it. I’m not joking. I have never met someone who’s read it and said that they hated it. Or even that they didn’t like it. I’m sure those people exist, but I’ve never met any of them. If this was a top ten list, there would be at least two other Douglas Adams titles on my list (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency for sure), but it isn’t, so this trilogy in five parts will have to do.
2. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks - In case you didn’t know - I Love Zombies. I love the idea that, Science being what it is, a Zombie Apocalypse could happen. That’s terrifying and incredible. I mean, not incredible if you’re standing in the middle of a Zombie attack....you know, it make sense in my head, but I’ve never been able to explain it to anyone. Anyway, This book has zombies and great story telling. How could you go wrong with that?
3. Divergent by Veronica Roth - Rarely do I finish a book and then want to instantly read it again. I read this book three times in four days. That’s how much I loved it. In fact, I think I might just read it again soon. I can not wait for the next book in this series!  ps: Why not check out my review of Divergent?
4. Here's to You, Rachel Robinson by Judy Blume - I must have read this book a hundred times when I was young. Sadly, I no longer have my copy. I got a bit of a fix reading the “look inside” on Amazon, but that was just a tease. I’ve added it to my wish list, so I’ll remember to buy it in the future. Sadly, it doesn’t come in a kindle version. I only just learned that this is the second book in a series, but I really don’t have any interest in reading the first one.
5. The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks - Because you gotta be prepared.

What books would you put in your top 5 list?

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

So, I won this book from a twitter trivia contest from Chapters Indigo. It's called Divergent  and it's written by Veronica Roth. For the contest, you needed to read the first nine chapters of the book (available online!) After reading it, I had to win that contest. I have never wanted to win an online trivia contest more in my life. True story. Those first nine chapters were a giant tease. And then I won, and it was awesome.

So, since the synopses of the book has already been written way better then I could ever describe it,  so I'm just going to do the old copy and paste. From Harper Collins:


In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

 Ok, so with that out of the way, I'd like to point out that I'm writing a book review. Usually, the closest I get to writing a book review is "It was good, you should read it" or "It was terrible, don't waste your time". The fact that I am writing one now should tell you how strongly I feel about it. It was so good. I received it this morning around ten and I've already finished it. And wrote this review. And I had to go shopping for a couple hours this morning, so I got a late start on things. Most of the time when people say they couldn't put a book down, they are lying. Or exaggerating. Whatever. I only put it down to cook some food, and you can bet I read while I ate that food!

I think the main reason I don't write book reviews is that I have a hard time putting to works what exactly what made it so awesome. And such is the case with Divergent. It's not only that it's well written with a great story that leaves you wanting more (good thing it's book one in a series!). And it isn't just because the characters are complete and wonderful, with flaws and strengths that make you love them but also want to hit them right in face sometimes (or most of the time in the case of the antagonists). It's those things, sure, but it's so much more. I just can't explain it.

I guess you'll just have to read the book.