I have a friend who is a writer and a voracious reader. She is constantly giving me the scoop on hot new books and helping me diminish my embarrassment by catching me up on books I absolutely should have read already.
She was the person who gave me the "Twilight" series, "The Hunger Games" series, the Lauren Oliver series (I've only read "Delirium" so far), "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green and many more.
Recently she gave me the first book in the Veronica Roth trilogy called "Divergent." Though I might not have been interested in this book on its own, we recently saw the trailer for the movie and I knew I had to catch up before the premiere.
"Divergent" is set in a society with five distinct factions. Upon graduation from high school, each teenager must choose a faction to join for the rest of his/her life. Once you choose, you have to be initiated and then eventually you'll be given a full time job in your new faction.
This book follows the story of Tris, a young girl born into the Abnegation faction, a community based on selflessness. She winds up choosing to join the Dauntless faction, known for their bravery (translation, they are bad asses).
We follow Tris through her Dauntless initiation which involves acts of extreme bravery, enduring violence, being terrorized by her fellow initiates and trying to learn the norms of a totally different culture.
I know what you're thinking, that sounds depressing. Well, it is, until . . . she falls in love with her initiation leader. His name is Four (read the book to find out why they call him that) and I was totally gripped waiting for them to finally act on their obvious sexual tension. They didn't have their first kiss until page 338!
What's great about "Divergent" is that it's action packed and keeps you wanting to know what happens next. I flew through the entire book over two plane rides (it's nearly 500 pages). There is a lot of violence (you've been warned) and some pretty terrible demises at the end, but it's the chemistry between Tris and Four that keeps you rooting for a positive outcome.
Now that I've finished the book I can celebrate on April 4th when the movie is released! For those interested, here's the trailer:
Have you read the "Divergent" books? Will you see the movie?
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