Book Summaries: Divergent

Have you ever wanted to read a book with a strong female character? If so, Divergent is a great book for you. Divergent by Veronica Roth was published on April 25, 2011. It was published by HarperCollins. The book is set in a dystopian future in Chicago, Illinois. There are five factions; Amity, Abnegation, Erudite, Dauntless, and Candor. Their lives are majorly affected by which faction they live in. Each faction has their own unique values; Candor is honesty, Amity is peace, Abnegation is selflessness, Dauntless is brave, and Erudite is intelligence. You are born into the faction which your parents are in. At the age of 16, you take a test which shows you possible factions to choose from. The Choosing ceremony is an event where people that are 16 years old get to decide their new factions.

Beatrice Prior is a 16-year-old Abnegation girl. Her parents, Andrew and Natalie Prior, are faction leaders. Beatrice chooses to switch to a different faction because she always felt like she wasn’t selfless enough to be Abnegation. After she chooses her new faction, Beatrice changes her name to Tris. Tris has an older brother named Caleb. “Four” is an Abnegation transfer like Tris but he is two years older than her. Four works as a Dauntless initiation trainer. Tris and Four are both protagonists along with some of the other Dauntless transfers Tris meets during initiation. Jeanine Matthews is the faction leader of Erudite who wants control over all the factions and citizens. Jeanine is the main protagonist in Divergent.

Tris takes the Aptitude Test and she discovers a big secret about herself. Being Divergent means that you receive several results for your Aptitude Test. The Divergent have to ability to realize that the simulations are not real and escape them fast. Jeanine wants to get rid of as many Divergent people as she can because if she can’t find a serum that works, there aren’t as many people with the opportunity to rebel against her. Tris’s goal is to stop Jeanine while doing well in the Dauntless initiation. During her adventures, Tris discovers many new things about herself, her family, and her friends.

I would recommend this book to fans of the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Both series have plots based around rebellions against a dictator. Both Books have strong female characters who play a large role in the story’s plot. I was surprised when Natalie Prior knew her way around the Dauntless compound during Family Day. Faction members don’t visit other faction compounds unless there is an exception. Divergent is a very fast paced book which is filled with action. There are many twists and turns in the plot which makes it very exciting for the readers. When I read this book, I was excited to turn the page and see what happened next. I loved this book because the characters have their own mysterious backgrounds that you discover more about as the story unravels. I hope you enjoy this book and have a happy reading!