Book Review: Veronica Roth – “Allegiant”

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?
(Source: amazon.com)

Beware: THIS ONE CONTAINS SPOILERS.

I just finished this last book of the series, and let me say one thing straight away: I honestly don’t understand why it got such bad critics on amazon. Sure, the end was nothing I had in mind when I started reading, plus, it was against almost everything I had read so far. I won’t say it didn’t satisfy me, but…well, let’s start at the beginning.

“Allegiant” was built up differently than its two predecessors; this time, Veronica Roth not only used Tris as a narrator, but Four, too – the first-person narrator almost changes with every chapter. I, personally, really enjoyed it, because it finally gives the reader an insight into Four’s mind, into his thoughts and struggles with himself. You finally get to see behind his facade, something I wanted to do whenever I read all the conversations he had with Tris; it drove me insane that sometimes, his motives didn’t seem clear enough, or even senseless and ruthless to the point of ignorance. “Allegiant” finally answers the questions the reader might get.

Plus, in comparison to the first two books, this last one goes without a lot of violence and war. Its emphasis is more put onto the truth behind the factions, the lies that all the characters have been told their entire life, and I admit that to some people, that might seem boring and dull, especially when you’re used to the war and killing of the first two books. I myself had some difficulties when over and over, the story lives of explaining facts of the human life, the differences between genetically damaged people – GD’s – and genetically pure human beings – GP’s, further known as the Divergent. I am not a biology expert, and I never had any interest in the things that a human being is all about, what makes them tick, so I understand why “Allegiant” seems dull and boring alot. But as the story goes on and people get hurt – and killed – once more, the dullness so many people might criticize fades away – at least for me. Because no matter how much knowledge you have of the human nature or not, how much interested you are in it, this book keeps you on its pages, simply because you need to know if the truth that is revealed is really everything there is. You need to know how it goes on, what Tris, Four and all her friends are making of all this input they get when they leave their home to untrigger the real reason behind their existence. And just when you think that there aren’t any secrets left, Veronica Roth presents another one, one that leaves Tris and Four making decisions that might change everything – including their relationship.

And that’s the only thing that annoyed me while reading: the constant fights between them, the constant questions the reader has: “Are they still together?” and “Have they broken up with each other yet or not?” Don’t get me wrong, I really am not the romantic story type at all, I hate stories that brim over with romance. It’s just that I got attached to these two characters since I started this series. I was always full of awe when they had nice, memorable and, yes – even romantic moments; maybe just like I was about Katniss and Peeta in the “Hunger Games” series. Seeing them fighting in almost each single chapter, just when you think that they have made up again…it’s annoying and kind of exhausting. I am a girl after all, and deep down, I always hope for a Happy End, I guess.

And that’s where it gets difficult now. Don’t keep on reading if you don’t wanna know it. You’ve been warned.

There is no Happy End. Just when you think there might be one, one of the main characters makes a decision that turns the reader’s world upside down and that – at least I – would’ve never expected like this. I admit, through the last few pages, I was crying to the point where I wished that the author would surprise me with a revelation that would change the inevitable; that it didn’t happen was heartbreaking to me, and unsatisfying at first. But on the last few pages, I changed my opinion – not completely, no, I would be kind of a cold-hearted person if that would be the case, – because the absolute end, as it is presented just before and during the epilogue is something I can live with. I will never like it, but my life won’t end because of it.

Plus, it teaches us what bravery is all about – what it really is about. The characters lost a lot of friends and family over a short amount of time, they fell to the ground more than once, but they always stood up again, one way or another, and they never lost their ability that things may change and get better again.

And that is what the message of this series, what true bravery seems to be. Not how many times you might risk your life for others but how many times you stand up again when you think you can’t.

It’s a beautiful and nice message that definitely makes the “Divergent” series my favourite reading material of all times. 5 out of 5 stars.

Well done, Veronica Roth.

Book Review: Veronica Roth – “Insurgent”

Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so. (Source: amazon.com)

The 2nd book of the “Divergent” Series begins exactly where the 1st one ended, and there are no time gaps between both of them, which some people might enjoy, others don’t. Me, personally, was a bit surprised that it started at almost exactly the scene where it ended in “Divergent”, as I had expected at least a little time gap, a few weeks or something. But in retrospect, I think it was a good decision of Veronica Roth to write like this; that way, the story doesn’t forfeit anything of its rush, of it straight line of narration. The reader still feels like he/she’s part of the story, and it’s also a smart move of the author: once you ended “Divergent”, you want to start “Insurgent”, and as soon as you realized it’s starts where it left off, it’s absolutely impossible to put the book away (at least for me).

The two basic lines of the 2nd book are simple: love and secrets. Tris and Four (if you haven’t read my 1st blog about this series and only stumbled about this one, I won’t give away his real identity, to save you the suspense) struggle between their relationship that becomes stronger with each day and, at the same time, reasons that pile up infront of them, getting them into nasty fights over and over again. The fact that Four’s father and, in the middle of the book, even his mother – who had been announced dead for years – take part in the fight against the Erudite that try to take control of the other factions, doesn’t help: neither of them is trusted, and Tris finds herself on a thin line between deciding whether the greater good of the factions – meaning finding and revealing the truth about them – is more important than the relationship with the man she loves.

What I loved about the book was the fact that almost every main character seems to have to hide something; the secrets are practically jumping into your face, and just when you think you have found out one of them, something is scratching at the back of your mind, telling you that there is more to the situation than is out in the open. Especially Peter fascinated me in “Insurgent”. While he had been the biggest asshole on the planet in “Divergent”, trying to kill Tris two times,  devoting his life to make her life a living hell, he seems to have soften as the story goes on. It feels like he questions his earlier decisions, that he might become a good person after all…and what his story moves into in that 2nd book is definitely one of the highlights, because it is kind of surprising for the reader (though, personally, it was a bit predictable, but I think I’m just overly sensitive about these things).

Plus, the entire twists and turns in “Insurgent” were what practically glued me to my Kindle. You can never be sure which way one of the character turns, who will be left behind, what secrets are going to be revealed, and everytime, just when you think that Tris is done, or anyone of the others, the story does a turn and everything changes. It can be slightly annoying how often Tris and Four are at the edge of a break-up (that’s probably the thing that annoyed me a bit: the huge focus on their love story, but I think that’s part of how this series works), but when they find their way back to each other, the reader finds himself back in awe for them, anyways.

The end of the book was…flawless might be the best way to describe it. I love it when a book ends on a twist that you would’ve never expected the way it happened, because that’s what keeps you reading – especially when reading a book series. And the end of “Insurgent” definitely did that to me.

Resumé: thumbs up again for Veronica Roth and the 2nd book of the “Divergent” series, even if I – personally – enjoyed its predecessor a slightly bit more.