The dystopic genre has become all the rage, both in young adult and adult literature. Buoyed up by books such as The Hunger Games, The Passage, and many others, our society is fascinated by what happens when it all goes wrong. Divergent and it's sequel Insurgent, which just arrived on our shelves May 1, provide an amazing new take on the whole apocalyptic, world-ending theme.
Beatrice, Tris, Prior's world is divided into five factions. She grows up in Abnegation, the selfless policy makers of her city. At the age of 16, she can decided to stay in her childhood faction or switch to a different faction. Amity are peaceful and grow the food and provide caregivers. The Erudite care only for studying, scholarship, and science. The people of Candor tell only the truth, they are forbidden to lie. And the Dauntless faction is exactly what it sounds like: daredevils trained to protect the city. These five factions supposedly create a perfect society, allowing people to fit comfortably into their chosen faction. And faction, of course, comes before anything else.
On choosing day, Beatrice makes the decision to break from her family and join Dauntless, full of adrenaline junkies and supposedly brave individuals.But what makes someone brave? Jumping off a building? Standing up to a bully? Protecting one's family in the face of everything one's been taught? And just how dangerous is it being a Divergent? Tris wants to find answers, and she seeks them in Dauntless. She discovers bravery in others', and her, actions. But she also learns of a darker side of to the fearless faction of soldiers, information that could bring about complete chaos.
Insurgent picks up seconds after Divergent leaves off as Tris struggles against such a severe faction society to answer these questions. Full of breathless writing and fearless characters, I can't believe Veronica Roth wrote the first book as a college student at Northwestern University. On the other hand, she did study creative writing, and her creativity shines through these first two books. After the end of Insurgent, I'm waiting on pins and needles for the final book to answer all of my, and Tris's, questions.
Annie C.
