I have a term for books that I am so into I stop for nothing. Not food, nor sleep, nor anything else. These books are my cereal-for-dinner books – the ones where I don’t even want to take a break for a decent meal but rather I just pour a bowl of whatever I have on hand and some milk and keep on reading. Last night was a weet-bix kind of night.

At the age of 16, everyone must undergo an aptitude test to determine which faction of society they are best fitted to and then choose where they will spend the rest of their lives. Faction before Family. 

When Beatrice Prior undergoes the test which decides which faction she is best suited to, there is an anomaly with her results. She is “divergent” – not a perfect fit into any one of the five factions but rather equally suited to three; Dauntless – the dare devils who protect everyone from the horrors outside the city limits, Erudite – the book smart people who think the answer to everything is knowledge AND Abnegation – the people Beatrice grew up with who are selfless above all else.

Beatrice has more to think about than most when deciding which faction to dedicate her life to. Does she go with the Abnegations – and live the life she’s been brought up with but never truly feeling like she belongs? Or does she take a chance and abandon her family?

There are a lot of plot twists and turns in this novel. There are so many things that I wasn’t expecting (and a few that I was) but overall I think what I enjoyed most about this book was that it was different. It’s set in a post-apocolyptic dystopian world and for many people, they will see many similarities with The Hunger Games. But I found there to be enough differences to be throughly entertained.

Beatrice (aka. Tris) is a fantastic heroine. She’s more than what she seems. Her transformation from an Abnegation child to a Dauntless inductee was fascinating to read about. I did have a few problems with her (I can’t believe some of the things she does or more disturbingly, the way she feels about some things) but I think I’m hard to please and had she been less hard and a little softer I’d have been disappointed too. Four is my favourite character. He’s fascinating. I had an inkling about who he was and what his former faction was a long time before it was revealed but still enjoyed the journey. I liked how his relationship with Tris progressed.

It’s a good think that there’s only a few weeks till the sequel comes out. I’m impatient to find out what happens next. This book was fantastic. I recommend it to anyone who likes teen fiction that’s not romance centric, likes dystopia stories and isn’t scared off by a bit of violence.

Rating:

5 out of 5

Purchase book at:

Book Depository / Amazon