Review of The Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Divergent trilogy is by far one of my favorites, however the first book of the series is my personal favorite. Divergent by Veronica Roth is one of my go to books on a lazy day. It is the perfect mix of a dystopian and high fantasy novel. I would rate this book a 10/10.

The book Divergent is about a young girl named Tris who is trying to figure out her place among her society. Her society being one divided into “factions” or groups based off of the one thing they value the most such as bravery, honesty, and kindness. Everything is going along perfectly until she overhears faction leaders talking about plans about an attack on her old faction, Abnegation. Alongside her instructor and now boyfriend, Tris retaliates and fights for her new home and friends. The main character of the first book is obviously Tris, since the entire book is told from her point of view. However the following two books of the trilogy are told from multiple peoples perspectives, the main two being Tris and Four. I would recommend this book to a young adult or teen who wishes to escape the confines of our own society and explore that of another. This novel has many sudden twists and turns in its plot, making sure that the reader never gets bored. While the setting of the book may be in the future, there are many aspects of the text that can relate back to one’s own life.

The theme of this book, to put it simply, is identity. Throughout the book, Tris is trying to find where she belongs and where she fits in. The society that she finds herself living in has strict rules and regulations that, if broken, can lead to serious consequences. To figure out her place, she leaves her family and the faction that she was born in, Abnegation, for a more ruthless party, the Dauntless. After facing many challenges she meets many new friends and foes, furthermore she slowly starts to realize who she is and finally achieves a sense of belonging. This quote from the book portrays this theme. “When I look at the Abnegation lifestyle as an outsider, I think it’s beautiful… I fall in love with this life all over again. It’s only when I try to live it myself that I have trouble. It never feels genuine”. This quote is about how Tris is confused about her life. Inside, she knows that she should love her home and that being selfless (the value that her faction holds highest). However, she often finds herself thinking about her life would be like if she wasn’t born to be selfless. This quote shows her doubting the very life she is living, which leads her on the path of realizing who she is.

Overall, this book has been amazing. I love reading the book over and over again, it never gets old. However, the film for this book, while is amazing, leaves out many key details, again giving me reason to love books more than movies.

Works Cited

1. Roth, V. (2011). Divergent. Katherine Tegen Books.
2. Agarwal, S., & Chaudhuri, S. (2016). Rediscovering Identity: A Study of Identity Formation in Dystopian Fiction with Special Reference to Veronica Roth's Divergent. Journal of Language and Literature, 7(2), 167-178.
3. Bump, J. (2014). "Divergent" and "Insurgent": The Narrative Functions of YA Trilogies. The Lion and the Unicorn, 38(2), 164-182.
4. Collins, L. C. (2012). Inoculating the Future: Examining Divergent's Narrative of Human Genetic Engineering. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 23(3), 340-359.
5. Heit, J. (2014). The Evolution of the Heroine in the Divergent Trilogy. Children's Literature in Education, 45(1), 75-90.
6. Jones, T. (2015). Divergent Thinking: YA Fantasy and the Postmodern Turn. Children's Literature Association Quarterly, 40(1), 29-46.
7. Lutz, L. M. (2017). Fearless Female Protagonists in Dystopian Young Adult Fiction: Tris Prior and Katniss Everdeen as Role Models. Journal of Popular Culture, 50(6), 1265-1282.
8. Novak, J. (2013). The Intertextual In-Betweenness of Female Protagonists in the Hunger Games and Divergent Trilogies. Journal of Young Adult Literature, 4(2), 1-17.
9. Rettberg, J. W. (2018). The Factions Are Coming: Disciplinary Technology in Divergent. In The Fantastic in Philosophy: Critical Reflections on the Fantasy Genre (pp. 33-45). Lexington Books.
10. Wagner, T. (2015). Dystopian Love: The Search for Identity and Romantic Relationships in Veronica Roth's Divergent Trilogy. Journal of Popular Romance Studies, 5(2), 1-15.