Divergent Review

I just finished reading Veronica Roth’s Divergent so I thought I’d post my review. Here are some things that I consider important to a story and how Divergent stacked up. If you haven’t read it yet and don’t want anything spoiled then you should stop reading this blog entry now. If you just want to know if you should read it or not...well I'll just say it: it wasn't as good as The Hunger Games.

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!

                Imagery: 7/11

                The setting for this story was probably one of the coolest aspects for me. I really liked the empty, dilapidated city, and there were some great visual moments in the text. Nothing was over described—you were given just enough information for your mind to form a striking image.

                Plot: 6/11

                I wasn’t shocked or surprised by the plot at any point during Divergent, nor did I feel a compulsion to continue reading despite my best interests. I often put the book down and it took me several days to work through it. Everyone always compares Divergent to The Hunger Games and I don’t know if that’s fair, but it’s easy to do so I’ll do it too: I read the entire Hunger Games trilogy in two days. It took me almost a week to read just the first Divergent. But I won’t say that I was turned off by the plot either. It wasn’t gripping, but it wasn’t slow either. I was never bored.

                Characters: 6/11

                Divergent introduces us to a fairly broad cast of characters for such a short book, but I had no trouble keeping track of them because they stood out well. The characters weren’t always predictable, and they had some depth to them as well. But none of them were really that interesting to me. The story didn’t compel me to join a characters team, and I didn’t get attached to anyone. I can respect an author who allows so many characters die, but the only death I felt at all was Will, and even then it was only a small pang.

                Narrator: 2/11

                Oh. My. Gosh. Tris drove me crazy. She was devoid of confidence; completely oblivious to the way that others perceived her, and ignorant of any of her positive attributes. Why do all female protagonists have to think that they are hideous and useless failures? Is it really that depressing inside of every girl's mind? I just kept wishing the book was in written in third person. Tris would have been an awesome protagonist if I didn’t have to know what was going on in her head. Well maybe not awesome, but at least not so terrible.

                Romance: 1/11

                Maybe I’m just jaded. It’s no secret that I’m not the most romantic guy in the world. But the romance in this novel was really boring and pointless to me. I just wasn’t feeling it. Even Twilight was better in this aspect. I think it was partially due to her insecurity, but also because I never really felt like they had much chemistry. Their relationship was too easy and natural, and also too physical. Plus it seemed to get in the way of the story: the romantic scenes seemed to happen at all the wrong moments. When things were supposed to be intense the romance aspect kept obstructing the action. It was obnoxious.

                Overall I think I’d give this book a 4/11. It wasn’t terrible, and I’ll probably read the sequels if the movie does well just so I can keep up with pop culture, but it definitely wasn’t great. I wasn’t the biggest fan of The Hunger Games, but it trumps Divergent in pretty much every aspect except for the climax (which it wins simply by having a climax instead of letting the reader down every time). I didn’t get sucked into the characters or the universe, and it did little to spark my imagination.            

                Because of the books mediocrity, however, this may be one of those rare occasions where the movie is actually better. I think that if the acting and effects are good I will really enjoy the film version. I plan on finding out this weekend!