Divergent Trilogy | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Review
- Michaela Raschilla
- May 3, 2020
- 4 min read
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Divergent
Written by Veronica Roth
Published May 2012 by HarperCollins Children's Books
I said I would give you guys my in depth opinion on the divergent trilogy since I read all three books last month. I will start off with three mini spoiler free reviews and my usual information on the books and end with a spoilery discussion which will have a spoiler tag notice. If you haven't read the books and don't want to be spoiled then the last few paragraphs aren't for you but if you still want to know my opinion stick around for the first bit. *thumbs up*
I gave Divergent four stars out of five. It has an extremely interesting world that captivated me from the beginning. I completely followed the logic behind setting up the society in the way that she did and it was interesting to see how this world functioned and why it was falling apart. We have what I consider a fatal attraction romance. We have interesting well developed and rounded characters with unique motives. Overall I enjoyed it and I am not a big fan of dystopian fantasy. You might enjoy it too.
Insurgent was my least favorite of the trilogy because it put the world building on hold to further the plot. Which is completely reasonable and understandable and I believe it was a completely honest and important part of the series. That being said since my favorite part about the books are the world in which they are set, it falls a little flat for me. I still gave the book four out of five stars because even though it wasn't my favorite, it is still an incredibly captivating and compelling story. This also has one of the best reactions by a protagonist suddenly forced into a dangerous situation in almost any book I have read, YA or adult.
We got back to some serious world building in Allegiant and that picked it up for me. This was my second favorite of the three because the pacing is a little on the slower side. I know the internet has been raving about the ending. Personally I felt that it was the ending the series needed. It might not have been the ending I wanted or expected but it was the right ending. I would not have had it any other way and I respect Veronica Roth for writing it. In a world where we feel the end should almost always be happy because the real world isn't sometimes a real ending is more worth while. Likewise this book got four out of five stars from me and was a worth while ending. I was not disappointed in the least.
*spoilers*
*spoiler alert*
*warning there are spoilers about*
Now that the alert has been put out there I would love to tell you all the nitty-gritty details about why I really enjoyed this book and what I felt were the weak points.
I mentioned how much I liked the world building in this series. If I haven't beaten you over the head enough I'm going to do it again. This was one of the most interesting worlds I have read to date. Post apocalyptic dystopian societies are so interesting to read about in general but this was such an interesting way of doing it. It was a pseudo-utopian society. It wasn't an oppressive dictative power. It was something that in theory and on the outside seemed wholesome and good. It seemed like a good way to get rid of all of humanity's problems. It was so interesting to see somebody acknowledge that what looks like it would be perfect can still lead to problems.
The one thing that I almost always disagree with is what I call a fatal romance. I say fatal not because it is deadly but because it is inevitable. There is some sort of visceral chemical reaction between two characters that cause them to instantly fall in love. It is probably either an extremely unrealistic depiction or an extremely true depiction of teen love. I know as an anthropologists that our bodies are biomechanical machines. There is something completely honest about somebody having a physical reaction to someone else. The problem I have with this in novels is that it often feels insincere. We, as readers, don't feel like there was enough time to get to know the characters or feel like they know each other. I will say that as the story progressed this felt more and more like a real relationship and I could let their instantaneous romance slide by the way side. The quote about choosing him every day that came up in the last book is one that is simultaneously beautiful and true.
Now the monster in the closet. What did I think about the end. I said earlier that I felt it was the right ending for the books. It is why I think this is one of the best endings to a trilogy that I have ever seen. I felt that it was completely true to the characters and to the story. My roommate here reads fanfiction all day and all night and every so often I hear her shout out something about how she won't read a fiction if it is tagged with major character death. Some people just can't deal with characters they are so emotionally invested in dying. I have never been one of those people. I take more issue with characters I love acting out of character to further the plot somehow than I do with them dying.
The thing about these books is that even though they are a complete work of fiction in an incredibly interesting and harsh world I still think they are one of the most honest books I have read. I found this year that my favorite books are not those that over romanticize or criticize reality but are those that are true. Humans are incredibly messy beings. They are capable of so much good and so much destruction. With these books I think that Veronica Roth has done an incredible job in representing that fact.
I realize after writing all of this that even my spoiler section isn't very spoilery. I guess I just rather talk about the abstract ideas than the nitty gritty details. Perhaps I'm just used to be nonspecific.
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