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When your debut novel is arguably one of the most successful YA novels of 2011, winning two Goodreads Choice awards including favourite book, the amount of pressure on your follow-up must be daunting. Insurgent thankfully delivers another addictive and compelling dystopian thrill.
Set immediately after the events of Divergent; Four, Tris, Marcus and Caleb and assorted other Abnegation refugees head to Amity HQ in the hopes of seeking out help against Erudite’s plans to crush the faction. I don’t want to spoil the plot events of Insurgent because it’s best to go into a novel like this cold in my opinion; I will say that we get a welcome insight into life in other factions. Tris’ experiences of Candor and Amity are examples of Roth’s overall detailed world building and by seeing them through Tris’ eyes, the reader is able to see the strangeness and differences between the factions. One of the most tense scenes in the novel demonstrates this and takes part in Candor HQ. I don’t want to spoil it as the book is released today, but all I will say is I approached the scene with dread and it tugged at my emotions.
Roth admirably does not use Four’s abusive background as a way to make him a sexy bad boy and much of his behaviour in Insurgent is dictated by his history and fears. One scene between Marcus and Four had me cringing, and I expect a lot of fellow readers may feel the same.
Fans of the romance between Tris and Four should be warned that this is not a romance. Yes, the characters do have some very cute scenes together, but this is a time of war, of conflict and Roth remembers that in times like these you probably don’t spend all your time snogging your boyfriend. Tris and Four’s relationship becomes complicated, but it had to; think about the end of Divergent!
The Divergent trait is explored a lot more in Insurgent and I found the exploration of this very interesting. Erudite are trying to find a way for their serums to effect Divergent and the chapters around that were chilling to read.
One character made me scream. One character kind of destroyed me a bit and left me in complete sympathy and shock for another character. There is a betrayal and I was surprised by it.
The ending is one that you will love or hate. For me, I admit it hooked me and I want- no, need- the next book, but I do dislike how the second book of a series always ends with an awful cliffhanger; Catching Fire and Pandemonium are two recent examples of the same ploy. I’m about to discuss the ending here, and while I’m trying incredibly hard to keep it spoiler free, please be aware there may be some spoilers or hints. felt the twist was somewhat predictable, however I’m incredibly interested to see where it is taken by Roth as it ties into the community as a whole and the mysterious outside world. I have to admit I spent part of the novel wondering if it might turn into some epic monster/zombie fest, but that may have just been me. There is a slight Forest of Hands and Teeth Vibe to Roth’s society’s mystery of beyond the border, but without spoiling it for you, the twist Roth elected to take was one I’m anticipating the development of and want to see where exactly Book Three will go.
Overall, if you liked Divergent, you will likely love Insurgent. For me, I did really enjoy it. It was accomplished, incredibly action-packed and every character was developed more and more throughout the novel. I’ve come out of Insurgent with a stronger awareness of Roth’s characters, world and satisfied from an exciting read. It may fall short of the hype for some and I can anticipate the ending will frustrate some readers, but for me the pros outweighed the cons and as as a fan of the predecessor, Insurgent delivered for me.
I received my copy ofInsurgent from Harper Collin’s Children’s Books (UK) in exchange for my review and as part of the ongoing InsurgentUK promotion. I am a member of the Abnegation faction and will be linking on twitter and a blog post here my teammates and faction leaders’ reviews and posts in the coming week. There have been some excellent promotional posts on twitter and Team Dauntless UK even did a fabulous blog tour, which as a selfless Abnegation member I am happy to tell you about!
Summary from www.goodreads.com: Beatrice “Tris” Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth’s dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place her in mortal danger. Veronica Roth’s young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances.
It is rare to find a book that just hours after reading you already want to start again; for me, Divergent was one of these novels. Dystopian YA is everywhere at the moment, and while dystopian novels, including those aimed at children and teenagers, have been around for decades, big series like The Hunger Games have rendered dystopia just as hot a topic as vampires were four years ago.
Tris is a great heroine, she is strong and self-aware. She does not need to be defined by men, knows her limitations and is brave. Her acknowledgement of her flaws and inability to be as selfless as her family is both mature and commendable. Basically Tris is relatable despite her ‘special’, rare status as divergent.
For me the strongest section of the book was the protracted, tense initiation process into Dauntless – a faction for whom not making the top ten initiates means being expelled and rendered factionless (a very bad thing). Tris grows so much as a character in this part and evolves from a young, underexposed and curious girl into a strong and brave heroine. The fact that we, the reader, get to witness this change is one of the novel’s fundamental strengths.
Dystopian YA novels often have romance too, let’s not deny this. Last year, novels like Delirium and Matched played with the ideas of arranged relationships and love, The Hunger Games trilogy had the inevitable love triangle for Katniss between Peeta and Gale. Divergent’s romantic sub-plot is well-written and developed. Tris’ romantic interest is engaging, mysterious, complicated and funny. One of my favourite exchanges in the novel is in the development of their romance [warning, here be spoilers on the love interest, read on at your own peril, etc]:
“ “But you’re older than I am… Tobias.”
He smiles at me. “Yes, that whopping two-year gap really is insurmountable, isn’t it?” “(337)
This light hearted sense is a welcome palate cleanser to some of the more brutal scenes where Dauntless training really is well, daunting.
I do not wish to spoil the ending of this novel for any readers (beyond what I have already spoiled about romance) but the last hundred pages are brutal. Roth spares no punches and proves many characters disposable and leaves the reader giddy after a rollercoaster of action and emotions. There is obvious growth for a sequel and for the plot, more will be necessary. I need to know what happens next, how characters cope and what will happen to the world Roth has created.
Divergent is a book I wish I had written myself; it has a believable, vivid world that draws you in, is well-written and comes with the highest recommendations from ChooseYAbooks.
