Hey Ravens!
Here I am again. I know I said I'd write the review last week, but my life has
been hectic lately and I've had absolutely NO time at all to prepare any proper
review or booktag or more dreams type of thing.
After being MIA in the proper entries world for more
than two weeks I felt like you deserved something well prepared, so I decided
to review one of the books that I've loved reading the most. I am talking about
Divergent, the first book in the trilogy written by Veronica Roth. As you
all must know I will be following a schedule from now on (it was about time)
and this is the first entry. In case you didn’t read my last entry, Wednesdays
are for English posts and then Sundays I’ll post the Catalan translation. If I am
not too busy you may get more updates, but one post a week is for sure.
I am going to say one very important thing
now and I don’t want to hear about it, people saying that I have NOT warned you
when I in fact HAVE. This review is going to have tons of spoilers from
Divergent (not Insurgent or Allegiant, at least I don’t plan on it), because it
is quite complicated to review a book without giving something away. I will
tell you when the part where there are spoilers begins and ends. Enjoy!
Let’s get
started with the technical info… (btw, I have changed a little bit the info
design too, as you can see below).
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world,
society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a
particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless
(the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent).
On an
appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to
which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is
between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have
both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
As you may see this is also new. From now
on there will be a short biography of the author and a picture. There probably
will be the link to their Goodreads profile if it is available.
This book has long been in my to-review
list (does that even exist?). I wanted to start with Wonder because of its
heavy impact it had on me, because it is more realistic. Let’s get to the point now, because there is
so much that needs to be said about this book, and I think anyone who’s read it
will say the same. I read it about a year and a half ago and I remember
re-reading it once or twice after that throughout the year, but it is one of
the novels that has changed me and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.
As stated
in the technical info, it is actually a trilogy. There are three books:
Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant, but a fourth book was published called
Four, a book composed by four parts that is from the point of view of one of
the main characters in Divergent, Four (that is a lot of fours, isn’t it? LOL).
However, I do have to say there is a short epilogue that has been released
together with VR’s new book. It is called We Can Be Mended, and though I could
read it if I wanted I’ve decided against it because of reasons Divergent Fans
will certainly understand.
The one thing I probably loved the most in
this book were the characters in it. There were incredibly strong characters with incredible personalities who were hardly taken into account though, and I think they could’ve been much
more important to this story. There are selfless, honest and kind people, but
also ruthless leaders and selfish, brutal and mean initiates. There is going to
be an entry next week with a description of the main characters and stuff. Short but sweet
1. I hated that Tris was placed 6th in the first part of initiation, because she deserved much more. I know she was not a great fighter and guns were not her thing, but come ON! Why do I not agree with the ranking?
a. She was the first jumper, something absolutely UNHEARD of coming from a transfer, let alone a "stiff" (the other factions use this name regarding the Abnegation, it is quite disrespectful).
b. She stood up for Al in the knife-throwing scene
c. She beat Molly in the fights. Why is she placed behind her and Christina? Christina conceded and Tris beat Molly. As I see it, Tris should’ve been fourth. I would’ve been happy with that position.
d. She was good at knife-throwing
e. She was the one who found the other team’s flag and thought of a strategy to attack
2. The Ferris Wheel scene is overrated. I am not against it at all, it is
amazing, but hearing about people loving it so much doesn’t make that much
sense to me. Personally, I preferred the part after Tris’ fear landscape.
3. Al. I know, he died. I just never liked him, not at all. Especially
after what he did that night. What a coward. He should’ve never done what his
parents wanted him to do. It is obvious he didn’t belong in Dauntless.
Now that I’ve named the bad stuff (could
count it with one hand), let’s go on with the great, amazing scenes and people
(and food…) I fell in love with throughout the book.
1. Four//Tobias. He fast became my first
book-crush. He may be hard like a puzzle to figure out, but once you get to
know him he’s just plain amazing. No more to be said.
2. Dauntless cake. Given how much
people in the book seem to adore it, I would pay anything to try it myself. Oh
Uriah, you really would kill for your cake, wouldn't you?(Tobias would too,
lol).
3. Uriah. He is goofy, funny,
brave, and an awesome friend. I hate that he wasn’t included in the movie
adaptation, as weren’t the other Dauntless Born. Yeah, sure, he was in
Insurgent, but he wasn't given enough credit.
5. SCENES!!! Can’t number all of them because
that’d be a never-ending list, but here are some of my favorites.
a. Knife-throwing. I know, it is pretty cliché. Nevertheless, her standing up to Al (who didn’t deserve it) was stupid and brave at the same time. Tobias was trying to encourage her and she thought the opposite.
b. Return from visiting Caleb in Erudite. I like Eric as a character, I just hate his personality and tendencies. Him scolding Tris and then Tobias appearing saying she tried to kiss him was the best.
c. Erudite newspaper. Tris thinking Will looked okay (aka not crazy) even though he came from Erudite was hilarious.
d. Muffins and shooting with the Dauntless Born. Marlene and Uriah are the best.
e. After the fear landscape. When Tris is at Four’s apartment and she tells him about her fear of intimacy. Very sweet.
f. Christina’s fear. When Will discovers Chris’ fear of moths and says she’s as tough as cotton balls I couldn’t stop laughing.
g. Tris threatening Marcus when he approaches our beloved Tobias.
h. It’s not like you’re gonna shoot me. No-one should ever underestimate Tris, I loved that she shot Eric and Peter, though it would’ve been better if they’d died. It isn’t like as if they didn’t deserve it. When I watched that scene in the movie I realized I really liked Miles Teller as the actor interpreting Peter (Theo is always going to be the best, though).
i. Tris’ parents’ love for her daughter, so much they sacrificed their lives for her. I hate that they died, but I agree with Tobias when he says it was the way they would’ve liked to die, to save their baby girl. It was a meaningful death, from my point of view, even if the attack on Abnegation was 100% unfair.
Hope you guys enjoyed reading this review, even if it was spoiler filled.
I couldn’t help but write that section, and I think people who have read and
loved the book will understand why. There were very special moments in it that I
will never, ever forget. I will post the Characters entry as soon as possible. Just
so you know, it is going to be a little bit of a mashup of Characters, quotes
and movie.
"Writing is learning how to say nothing, more cleverly each day" William Allingham