Divergent

by Veronica Roth

Welcome to Chicago in the future. Of course, it is a dystopia, as this is a young adult novel. This seems to have become a standard device in young adult literature.

Anyway, the city is now divided into factions: Dauntless, Erudite, Candor, Abnegation, and Amity. At the age of 16, residents choose their faction.

For Beatrice “Tris” Prior, the faction decision is a tough one. She doesn’t want to leave her parents and brother in Abnegation, yet she doesn’t feel all that comfortable being so selfless all of the time. She is attracted to the Dauntless faction.

When she chooses Dauntless, things get interesting. Over the course of her initiation, she realizes that she has an aptitude for several factions and cannot be boxed into one. She is. . . Divergent!

Here’s what I liked: the concept of factions. It is strange, but it works. And I loved Tris’s initiation process.

What I didn’t like so much: the cheesy, throwaway references to Chicago. Anyone can use iconic skyscrapers, Navy Pier, and the bean as geographic references. An author who went to Northwestern and lives near the city can do better. I wish she had done better.  Also, because it’s written as the first entry in a series, the novel doesn’t really have a conclusion. Frustrating!

My final evaluation: entertaining, yet frustrating.

4/26/13

Another title from The United States of YA: http://www.epicreads.com/blog/the-united-states-of-ya/