Divergent, by Veronica Roth

Divergent is a fast-paced, boldly written book: a page-turner which is impossible to put down. The words draw you in and weave you into the book.

 

The book is an adventurous and vivid insight into the future and its society. This society is split into five 'factions', based on the character of it's inhabitants. A war had previously shook the foundations of the city in which they live, and the people formed five factions depending on how they viewed the cause of the war. Each of the people in a faction were likeminded in their determination to eliminate what they thought caused the war. For example; one faction blamed selfishness so strived to be completely selfless. Each faction had stereotypical traits and rules according to their cause. However, a house divided against itself cannot stand, and there were many conflicts between the factions, and many dark secrets that the leaders of the factions swept under the rug to try and preserve the pretence of peace.

 

The characters Roth creates become real, and prominent. We know little about the characters from what they say, however, Roth is a master at making the reader notice things subtly, like a character's reaction to something, how other characters speak and interact with them, which faction they belong to and who their friends are.

 

This builds the reader's understanding of each character. The reader learns about each character from the inside out. The characters are not simply given to you by the author, but allows the reader to build their own interpretation of each character, which allows the reader to 'own' the book; the book has a different depth to each reader. The reader can also make up their own mind about which faction they identify with.

 

This deeply-felt work of genius is a must-read and gets 5 stars