In the wake of a warring world, a new order emerged where our Chicago once stood. People did not believe politics, religion or even nationalism could cause wars. People did that.
Factions were created to fix that.
Those who blamed aggression formed Amity to live peacefully. Those who blamed ignorance sought to foster knowledge by creating the Erudite. Those blaming duplicity strove for honesty in Candor. Those who blamed cowardice formed Dauntless. Finally, those who blamed selfishness made Abnegation.
Together the factions have created a peaceful society for their people.
Sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior is ready to become part that society by choosing which faction she will join. Her aptitude test is supposed to help her make the right choice. Instead, the inconclusive results mark her as a Divergent forcing her to make her own choice and hide her real results from everyone–even her own family.
Until now her life in Abnegation has been peaceful. Sometimes it’s even beautiful. But it never feels quite right. Not as right as it feels watching the Dauntless students jump off a moving train to arrive at school each morning.
Nothing about remaking herself as a Dauntless initiate called Tris is easy. Most of it is hard and dangerous. It means leaving her family behind and forgetting most of what Abnegation held dear. The initiation process will be hard, it will be grueling, and it will mean facing her worst fears head on.
Worse, people are starting to suspect that Tris might be different. As Tris learns more about the Dauntless and the other factions she begins to suspect there is more to being Divergent than inconclusive aptitude test results. If she’s right, it might rock the factions to their very foundations in Divergent (2011) by Veronica Roth.
Divergent is Roth’s first novel. It is also the first of a trilogy.
Roth has created a convincing world filled with its own social mores, rules, and history. The background is as rich and evocative as the main storyline. Divergent has the perfect balance of world building and plot development as well as excellent characters. Tris is a strong, appealing heroine who knows her faults as well as her strengths. She is also accompanied on her adventures by a promising male lead and a cast of supporting characters who are, both literally and figuratively, strong additions to the story.
Anyone who has finished The Hunger Games and needs a new heroine to cheer for need look no further than this book. Divergent is a taut, dynamic thriller that draws readers in and won’t let go until the shocking conclusion.
Possible Pairings: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Legend by Marie Lu, 1984 by George Orwell, Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte, Pivot Point by Kasie West, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
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