Divergent (Book 1) by Veronica Roth

Description

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

I feel OK reviewing this now because for quite a while there hasn't been a release date for the final book of the trilogy. Nothing annoys me more than starting a series and having it end with a cliffhanger and not knowing when the next book will come out. But now that I know Allegiant will be out in October (yay!), I can confidently tell you that you can start reading without having too much time to freak out in between Insurgent (book 2) and Allegiant. Also, Divergent the movie will be released next year (March 2014 estimated) so you should definitely read it before the movie comes out! Now on to the actual review!

Society has taken a weird turn, dividing everyone into 4 different groups. There is also a 5th faction, Divergent, who are outcasts because they either didn't fit in any group and did not choose or they failed the "initiation" into the faction they chose and are now without a faction to call home. The book is based in a Chicago that has since fallen apart. The reason for the factions was to make society more peaceful and to stop war.

Tris has to decide which group she will join because the results of the "test" they take to help them decide what to choose wasn't exactly clear... this is an understatement but I don't want to spoil it for you. But it's pretty cool. She also has some special skills in the tests that I also won't mention because spoilers! She wants to not disappoint her parents by picking something outside of the faction she grew up in but she feels like she just doesn't fit in.

This was another book that was hard for me to put down. But I was able to read this without freaking out too much about when the next book would be out because it wasn't too cliffhanger-ey. Book 2 ends with one of those though... just to give you a fair warning. A great series and I can't wait until October!