Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Links: Goodreads | The Book Depository

Rating:

Have I ever introduced you guys to my meh-o-meter before? No, I promise, this isn't an innuendo.

If you've been reading my blog long enough, you know my brain is messed up. Big time. The meh-o-meter is just one way the mess manifests itself. The meh-o-meter doesn't help at all with the overall rating of the book, but it does help shape my review. Basically, it's the number of times my inner voice goes..meh whilst reading a book.

This meh can be an indication of a cliche character, a badly written scene, a plot hole, annoying dialogue/characters. 

To put it into perspective, while reading Finnikin of The Rock, one of my all time favorites, my meh-o-meter was no where in sight. While reading The 5th Wave, a highly aggravating book for me, my meh-o-meter was sky rocketing.

And then there is Divergent.

Insecure MC? Meh.

Awkward dialogue between Tris and Four? Meh.

Characters over analyzing each other out loud to build characterization even though those could be delivered in a much subtler way? Meh.

World building? Meh. 

Writing? Huge meh. 

Ending? Yup, you guessed it.. Meh.


Now to be fair, some of these need to be further addressed  Like the writing for example. It isn't at all terrible, it gets straight to the point. But you know whose writing does that too in a much more layered way? Suzanne Collins. Now, I promise this will be the first and last comparison I ever make between the two books because, other than Tris and Katniss rhyming together, both of them have nothing in common. But if I read an excerpt from any of Roth's other books, I wouldn't be able to tell it's her, and for a book that was as hyped as Divergent was, I was expecting more. The action delivered, though. There was more than enough to go around, and if anything, this was a highly entertaining read. There was always something happening.

And the MC, Tris Prior? I didn't hate her, but some of the things she did truly annoyed me. Most of all was how she felt insecure about her looks. Now, I can't stress this enough, but I DON'T like reading about female characters insecure about their body. Not because it's unrealistic, or wrong. Absolutely not. Whatever you think of your body is up to you, but I would love to read about a girl who feels confident in her skin for a change. Having Tris complain about her bony body made me uneasy. I have this theory, which may or may not be true, that having more female characters that are confident in their bodies will in return encourage girls to feel like it's OKAY to be secure. That it's okay to like what you see in the mirror.

But I'm not limiting Tris to what she thought of her looks. She was a very brave character, and I loved that about her. Jumping off a seven story building? That's some badassery right there. I couldn't imagine doing the same.

The idea of factions was hard to get my head around. Plus, too many aspects of the world building was left unclear. Was this faction thing nation wide? Was this only in Chicago? How did it happen? Maybe it was explained, and I just didn't notice. I tend to do that.

Aaand the romance. For a book so high on my meh-o-meter, the romance was surprisingly done well. There has to be sufficient reasons as to why two characters might like each other. I understood why Tris did.  Four was someone I'd like to date. He balances attractiveness with likability. He was mature, and charming, and very smart. But often, with first-person books, I keep wondering why the other person is attracted to our narrator. Here, it wasn't the case. I could see why a guy like Four would be interested in Tris. Roth put in enough scenes to explain that, and so the romance developed nicely, without the insta-love that is a trademark of so many books.

The ending was one of my least favorite parts. I can't pin point what it is that I didn't like. I guess that throughout the novel, I kept expecting the ending to pick things up, and make me understand just why this book is so hyped. That wasn't the case. It was at parts rushed, somewhat predictable and too simple for my liking.

Final words: Liked it, but it didn't live up to the hype.

Did you read the book? Then let's discuss the hell out of it!

P.S: Do NOT click the button bellow unless you've read the book. It might get spoilery.

Which faction would you have chosen? and Why? 

There's no way I could be Dauntless. Yes, I have my moments of rare bravery and yes, I would like to be as close to Four as I can, but no. I would never chose Dauntless. Danger and I don't go well together. Candor isn't really my thing, either. I'm not  much of a liar, but sweet talking is one of my powers. Or so I've been told. Erudite? Well, I consider it one of the best compliments ever if someone tells me I'm smart, and it would fit perfectly with my villainous dreams, but I don't see myself being one of them. The same goes for Abnegation. Selflessness my ass.

That leaves me with Amity. Judging by Insurgent's cover, they're going to be the center of it, and even though I don't know much about them, I think it's the perfect faction for me. They just look so chill and laid back, you know? Like they don't care about anything, they just want to be happy and go pick fruits or whatever. I want that. I'm not as friendly as they're supposed to be, but I can get used to that.

Seriously, why would anyone pick anything other than Amity?

Do you think Tris deserved to be Dauntless?

Tris is  Dauntless. Her jumping off the building was proof of it. I just don't think it's fair she was one of the top ten. Had she not been Divergent, would she still make it?  Maybe. Because she was smart and all, but still, the odds would have been heavily against her.

Which faction do you think should be in power? 

While the Abnegation do make good leaders, they're not great. I don't think they have enough ambition to move a nation forward. Candor would make terrible politicians, so maybe they should be in the legal system (aren't they?). Erudite should have been given some powers too. It's both dangerous and stupid to keep someone with such potential off power. Can you imagine an Erudite as a military strategic leader?! They'd be awesome! And Dauntless obviously would make great soldiers. What I don't understand though, is how little the Amity contribution to politics is. Yes, I'm standing by them again. Deal with it. I just think that peace loving, friendly people would not only make great political leaders, they would focus on rebuilding whatever happened to the society Tris lives in (like I said, I still don't have that figured out).

Did you watch the trailer of the movie? What did you think? 

Err.. I don't know. I mean on one hand, having Kate Winslet in it is great, but doesn't it look kind of.. tacky? Or cheap? I'm really hoping it would turn out well though. I like the casting. I know not a lot of people agree with me, but Shailene Woodley is a good actress, and she seems like a genuinely cool person in real life. And Theo James is just.. *wink*. Oh, and he fits the role, too.