Book Review - Divergent

Divergent - by Veronica Roth

Sixteen-year-old Tris is forced to make a terrible choice. In a divided society where everyone must conform, Tris does not fit. 

So she ventures out alone, determined to discover where she truly belongs. Shocked by her brutal new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her.

The hardest choice lies ahead.

I have heard both bad and good reviews of this book, so I wanted to share my thoughts with you, especially with the release of the movie very close.

Last year when Nat and I went to see Hunger Games - Catching Fire, we saw a trailer for the Divergent movie. We had never even heard of the book before but the movie was eye-catching and since it was sold as similar to Hunger Games, it definitely piqued our interest. Nat's birthday was only a few days after we saw the trailer and so I bought her book 1 & 2 in the trilogy (Divergent and Insurgent). I left the third book (Allegiant) for the time being, as it was only available in Hardback and I knew she would like a matching set.

Nat read them pretty much straight away and from what I can gather, thoroughly enjoyed them. I wasn't finding much time to read around then but when she offered me them in February, I jumped at the chance to borrow them. Luckily Nat brought Divergent round just as I was ready to start a new book and so my March book has been Divergent.

For those people who say its a poor version of Hunger Games, I think they're wrong. I do however think its very unfortunately for the author, that this book came quite so close on the heels of Hunger Games. While on the one hand I'm sure that is actually what helped her get a movie deal, on the other hand a lot of comparisons will go on. I'm not going to lie either, I would pick Hunger Games to read over Divergent, any time.

That said, Divergent IS a good book in my opinion and I did thoroughly enjoy it. Other than the book blurb, there isn't really much I can tell you about the plot that won't spoil the storyline for you. The theme is dystopia and the main character is female (I guess that's where the Hunger Games comparisons come in). Also like HG, the books are part of a trilogy and are being made into a movie. For me, the book was an easy read, enjoyable and with enough interest that came me going back to pick up the book. In fact towards the end I definitely had far more trouble putting the book down. On top of that there were even several parts of the book that made me cry and by the end I definitely wanted to read the next book. So much so in fact, that as I don't know when I'll see Nat again to borrow book 2, I picked up Insurgent from Tesco last Saturday. 

I intend to lend the books to my mum as she enjoyed Hunger Games and I think she'll like this too. I also have tickets for Nat and I to see Divergent at the movies on 1st April, so I'll let you know what I think.

Reed by Allison Saltz is my next book. Its not actually available till April 18th but I've been given an advance copy to review. I look forward to letting you all know what its like! After that, I'm sure to be moving on to both Insurgent and Allegiant in order to finish the trilogy.