Divergent By Veronica Roth

Reading Hammock’s Rating:	4 ½
Category:	Fiction
Fiction Genre:	Science Fiction
Title:	Divergent
Author:	Veronica Roth
Author Website:	http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/
ISBN-10:	0062024027
ISBN-13:	9780062024022
Publication Date:	May 2011
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Format:	Paperback | Hardcover | Digital | Audio
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Synopsis:

In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

My review:

I have been reading this novel on and off for a couple of weeks but I barely finished a small portion of it.  Whenever I picked it up, it didn’t spark my interest to keep me reading.  Yesterday, I picked it up again and I finally got into the story.  The story beings very slowly.  The author allows the reader to look into Beatrice’s dystopian world, filled with five factions—Abnegation, Candor, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite.  Beatrice has lived with her family for 16 years in the Abnegation faction-- the faction of selflessness.  However, at the age of 16, she considers her options at the Choosing Ceremony, and betrays her family by picking a different faction than she was born into.  Beatrice chooses the Dauntless faction, the faction of bravery and fights for one of the ten spots available in this faction. If she fails, she may become an outcast, and a person that does not belong to any of the five factions. 

After patiently chipping away at the beginning for weeks, I finally grasped enough of the story that made this book “unputdownable.”  Roth uses vivid descriptions to help the reader understand Beatrice’s world.  Although the beginning is slow, it sets up the story for the rest of the novel and is vital to understand the roles of each character and faction. Once you pass beyond the initial breaking of the ice, “Divergent” is a heart-racing story that builds deep tensions to keep the reader wondering what will happen next.  However, be warned, you may be unsatisfied with the ending since you’ll have to wait until its sequel comes out next May to see how Roth continues the story.