Title: Insurgent
Author: Veronica Roth
Series: #2 - Divergent
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: May 1st, 2012
My Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.
"New York Times" bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian "Divergent" series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.
My Review:
This book had a huge amount of hype behind it and great potential to surpass Divergent over and over. There was something about this book though, that just wouldn’t let it be better. Maybe it was the super-horny Tris wanting to molesterbate Tobias at every turn, but I don’t believe that was the core of the issue.
Tris’s development seemed more backwards in this book, as compared to Divergent. Her weakness became more prevalent and then the idea of self-sacrifice both gave her this humanizing feature, that I believe was well past needed. I say this because a good way into the book I began thinking that Superman may actually be female unlike what I initially thought, which is far, far from the case in Tris. This seemed to bring Tris’s character to life, and made me enjoy her on a far better level than I had initially thought from Divergent.
Now to address the near constant love-fest, and making out in this portion of the series. I would like to state she’s a teenage girl, she’s trying to make some sense out of the world around her, and all the hard decisions she’s faced with that not only affect her but the people around her as well. The only anchor and sense of sanity to her would be Tobias, so in that case I understand all the making out and love, it fits in my perspective.
The overall feel of the book was great, the factions were brought better to light and the war between the factions takes a few unexpected turns. Now Dauntless seems the same insane, courageous, and yes almost unbelievable, but there is something about this group that makes me smile all the same. They remind of a bunch of people who just don’t care about what the people around them think, and do what they want because they just can. The other factions seem a little more sheltered, the Abegnation seems to fall away with the near destruction of their home in the last book, and I really wish to have seen more of them, but it fits why we don’t.
Amity was the only faction that seemed to make me angry. I don’t understand how a faction, a group of hundreds or thousands of people could all sit around a table and everyone come up with a resolution that everyone would be happy about. This just seems almost as unrealistic as the Dauntless’s indescribable bravery. Candor was the one faction that intrigued me the most and the one I was happy to see. The happenings at Candor, and everything they did and stood for fit really well and I wanted to see more of Candor and what they were up to and wanted out of the war.
There is another faction, yes faction, which arises in this book. I am probably going to get beat for this but from what I understand and the definition of faction in this book, would put the Factionless as a faction. The Factionless are organized, well organized enough and they are a rather large group of them spread not only in one location but over a series of spots and traveling. I was happy to see them come to light, and the twists they bring made me crave for more.
This book may not have met up to all my expectations, but it fell on par with Divergent. However, the ending is one hell of a cliffhanger, and I will warn everyone it will leave you with a million questions and no outlet for the answers to magically float in on. I will be picking up the sequel and I thoroughly hope it keeps up the good pace of the series so far.
