As reward for tackling the beast that is the NAVLE (vet board exam), I read Allegiant, the final book in Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy. This book is definitely an emotional roller coaster. I actually finished reading it early this afternoon, but waited to write my review because need to really process all the feelings that Ms. Roth gave me with the book. Honestly, hours later I am still a little in shock but I will soldier on.
Allegiant picks up a little after the end of Insurgent with Tris imprisoned by the Factionless for her actions working with Marcus. With Tobias's help, she is able to avoid charges of treason, and once free, they work on rebuilding their relationship. The Factionless in charge does not really seem any better than when Jeannine was in charge. They are trading one tyrant for another.
A rebel movement begins to form called Allegiant, who want to know that is outside the city, and bring down the Factionless. Tris, Tobias, Cara, Christina, Uriah, and Peter leave the city to discover what is outside. There they find out that there is a government agency that has been monitoring all along.
The government types explain to them that the human race tried genetic manipulation to weed out the bad traits in people, but that brought on another whole slew of problems which lead to the Purity Wars. Other cities, like Chicago, were set up in order to make people genetically pure (GP) again. Chicago has been their greatest success so far. They look for GP's by seeing if they are Divergents, all others are considered Genetically Damaged (GD).
While the government talks a good game, Tris and Tobias soon discover there is more to them than what they seem, and that they don't really have people's best interest in their goals.
I am going to go ahead and say my biggest problem with the book is the switching between Tris and Tobias's POV. Not that I have a problem with POV changes in general, but I felt like the writing style between Tris and Tobias was not different enough to make it feel like a different characters perspective. I understand why Ms. Roth did it, because in the end it was necessary. I just wish she had developed a different style for Tobias to make him feel more like is his own character and not just an extension of Tris's character.
She did, however, did an amazing job of resolving the the story, even if she took my heart out and stomped on it in the process. I thought that Suzanne Collins was the ultimate in breaking my heart after the Hunger Games, but she has nothing on Veronica Roth's ability to devastate you.
One of my favorite things about this book is the way it explores the concept of Nurture verus Nature. Is it really our genetics that define who we are completely, or do outside things influence us just as much if not more than our genes?
This whole series is a must read. Plus you don't want to be behind when the Divergent movie comes out in the spring. Just be ready to be emotionally raw at the end, and keeping a tissue handy wouldn't hurt either.
Currently Reading:
Heart of Obsidian
by Nalini Singh
No comments:
Post a Comment