Review: Divergent by Veronica Moss

Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place in mortal danger. Veronica Roth's young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances.

I read this in July 2011 and July was a great month for reading. I'd been seeing reviews for Divergent pop up here and there before I really took any notice (I've kinda developed a thing for dystopia since, and as of yet it's never disappointed me), so once it was put on my TBR pile it wasn't long before I picked it up.

 I've only read a couple of Dystopic stories before this but I've really liked the few I've read and I had a feeling I'd like this too, but saying that I've been a pretty bad judge of new books lately (unknown to me authors). However, I wasn't surprised to find my first thought was right. I loved it.

The story was engaging and I really liked the tone and pace. I settled into it quite quickly, then found myself carried along. I liked Tris. Her attitude fitted her real well and was believable for someone in her situation. Both Four and Eric caught my attention early on. I thought Eric was interesting and Four intriguing. I really wanted to get to know both of them better. I liked that at first I didn't know who to trust out of the two, or if in fact I could trust either of them. I enjoyed reading about the other characters as well, and the world building was really effective.

I don't want to say much for fear of giving anything way. I loved that I didn't know much about the story before I I started read it. Divergent is the first in a series (I'm not sure how many are expected to be written), but it could be read as a stand alone. I hope it's just the start though as I really do want to read more by this author.

Edit: Insurgent is just out (May 1st 2012) which I've just started reading... very late posting review

Rating: 6/6 - Loved It