BOOK REVIEW: Divergent

I've seen Divergent floating around book blogs, bookstores, and all over campus for quite a while now, but for some reason, I've noticed, it took me quite a while to pick it up. I noticed that this happened with Hunger Games as well. Maybe I have something against post-apocalyptic societies with different regions/sections/districts? Anyways, here is my long-time-coming review for Divergent.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Five Stars.

I've been putting off writing a review for Divergent for quite sometimes simply because I have no idea how to do it justice. I'll admit that I'm fairly easily pleased when it comes to YA novels, but nevertheless it is also quite rare for me to find a book that simple amazes me.

I loved this book. As soon as I finished it I wanted to read it again. The characters are fantastic, the political systems that sections off the city into four factions is very fresh and fascinating, and man alive, I am just in LOVE with the character "Four"!

The factions are Dauntless, Abnegation, Amity and Erudite. Each one has a specific skill set that they demand in the members of their faction. Those who don't fit into any one faction become the 'factionless' which is basically a group of hobos living in the alleyways of town between the factions. Our heroine, Beatrice, or "Tris" begins the book on the day before she is to choose her faction. She can either stay in the faction of her parents, Abnegation, or choose another.

Beatrice has never felt like she really belonged in Abnegation. I loved her character from the very beginning of the book, but throughout the story she not only grows more of a spine and becomes stronger and more determined, but also develops her personality in so many other ways, proving that she is one of the few of the Divergent, that have potential for more than one faction.

One of the things I liked most about Divergent is the lack of real 'magic' or superpowers or anything. Don't get me wrong, I love dragons, vampires and Harry Potter just as much as the next girl, but it's nice to see a YA novel be so utterly fantastic without all of that.
Sure, each of the factions are special in their own way, but they just have an increase of one specific trait, such as intelligence or fearlessness. The 'superheroes' of the story, (AKA the Divergent) have abnormal talent for more than one of the factions and have some other epic skills that make them useful (I won't give any more away, but these 'skills' are without the use of magic or voodoo. :D)

Finally? Four. You'll find out his real name later, but anyways, 'Four' is the steamy hot brooding mysterious and very young member of Dauntless and is one of the trainers of the new Dauntless recruits. He is everything I like in a fictional crush. Drool-worthy, realistically male and sometimes a jerk, secretly super sweet, and with a tragic past. And I'm pleased to relate that this series has NO LOVE TRIANGLE! Hooray!! (Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the occasional love triangle, but I need a break after the last 3 million of them...) Anyways, he's realistic, he makes mistakes, but he's also AWESOME.

This soared above my expectations, which were pretty high in the first place. I totally recommend it to everyone, no matter the age group, gender or genre-preferred. In a nutshell, I really loved the characters, but the well thought out faction system was what really sold it to me, and the plot is fantastic as well. Enjoy!