Deconstructing Divergent: A Guide
for Both Parents & Fans
for Both Parents & Fans
Evelyn
Smith
MS
in Library Science, University of North Texas (2012)
Ph.
D. in English, Texas Christian University (1995)
Revised December 22, 2014
Revised December 22, 2014
Since a screenplay based on Veronica Roth’s novel, Divergent (2011), opens in theaters March 21, 2014, fans and parents might wish to take a look at the dystopian, science fiction trilogy, of which Divergent is the first installment. If the violence in Divergent is any indication, the film has most probably earned its rating of PG-13, so it’s likely not appropriate for tweens and young teens. Even so, for the most part, the novel, and presumably the film, could also serve as a model for a Bildungsroman, or a Coming of Age work of fiction, where the protagonist learns to be true to herself against all odds.
Judging by the uncharacteristic hushed silence that
filled the two eighth-grade homerooms to which I’ve recently read aloud the
first chapter of Divergent where Beatrice Prior undergoes a drug-induced series
of hallucinations that determines her future place within society and a copy of
the novel that went AWOL after
another Homeroom reading session, the narrative holds the attention of the
Young Adult reader. Moreover, if the reviews below represent the average Divergent fan, Roth’s first novel as
well as the two-following books in her trilogy—Insurgent (2012) and Allegiant
(2013)--have a cult following of general fiction readers as well. The Divergent
novels are certainly fast-paced plots that a captivated reader can speed
through in a single evening, or at least I did.
Some critics, however, find that the dystopian theme gets a little tedious after a while, and readers of the third and concluding novel, Allegiant (2013), quickly come to realize that the switching back and forth between Tris and Four (a.k.a. Tobias) as narrators in every other chapter is more than disconcerting: In an interview, Roth admits that Tris’s Dauntless instructor turned love interest Four, was the protagonist in her first draft of Divergent (‘Allegiant’, 2013, October 22, para. 19), so this dual narrative might be a remnant of this discarded draft. But more than anything else, judging by the reviews and the comments on Amazon.com, fans who expected a Twilight-style ending were very disappointed by Tris’s sacrificial, Christ-like death that ended the series. Then again, a lot of foreshadowing in all three books hints at this conclusion.
P. S.--Middle School students loved to hear the opening chapter of Divergent read aloud, for they really relate to Tris, so much so that various students come up after class, asking if the school library has a copy of the book. They also enjoy hearing Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games. Before reading a passage, ask students to listen for specific details, so the class can relate a passage to a particular topic like child abuse or bullying.
Divergent Series Reviews
Roth,
Veronica. (2011). Divergent. New York:
Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins).
---. (2012). Insurgient. New York:
Katherine Tegen Books (Harper Collins).
---. (2013). Allegiant. New York: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins).
____________
‘Allegiant’ could shock fans of best-selling
‘Divergent’ books. (2013, October 22). Here and
Now with Robin Young. Public Radio's
Live Midday News Program. National
Public Radio. Retrieved from http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/10/22/allegiant-could-shock
Allegiant, the third and final installment in
Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy features a
disquieting end, although the best-selling author has planned this fate for Beatrice Prior from the very beginning of the series (‘Allegiant’, 2013, October
22, para. 5-8).
Roth, one of the “youngest and hottest authors” of
Young Adult fiction, sets her tale in Chicago centuries in the future that
recalls The Hunger Games, where the
16-year-old protagonist, Beatrice, nicknamed Tris, “must choose to join a faction that most fits her character, even if that
means leaving her family behind” (‘Allegiant’, 2013, October 22, para. 9).
Roth, age 25, came up with her protagonist’s chosen faction,
the Dauntless, in a Northwestern University psychology class when she learned about exposure therapy, a treatment that requires
individuals to overcome their fears by confronting them. The
Dauntless face their fears, valuing bravery above all other character
traits. However, they must confront
other factions in a dystopia where some of the competing personality groups
have violently turned against their rival factions (‘Allegiant’, 2013, October
22, para. 10-11).
Roth also discloses to National Public Radio’s Robin Young some of
the reasoning behind the plot line of the series. For example, when coming up
for the names of the remaining factions, Roth simply asked herself, “Which
virtues would I choose to make these groups revolve around if I were the god of
this Utopian universe” (‘Allegiant’, 2013, October 22, para. 13-14). Thus, Tris's birth faction, Abnegation, above all prizes selflessness while the members of the Candor faction most value
honesty, the
Amity commune devotes itself to peace, and the Erudite intelligentsia esteems the pursuit of knowledge—all inductees making this decision at age 16 perhaps because Roth felt
pressure at this age to figure out what she wanted to do with her life
(‘Allegiant’, 2013, October 22, para. 15-18).
Interestingly enough, however, when Young asks why
Tris decides to choose a lifestyle valuing bravery while
rejecting a code that values totally living for others, Roth laughs and
confesses that she actually wrote Divergent from Four’s perspective, but 30 pages into the novel, Roth found this didn’t work. Four years later, she revised the novel by
switched protagonists since she felt it was far more interesting for a young
woman to choose valor over selflessness, turning upside down gender
expectations (‘Allegiant’, 2013, October 22, para. 19-22).
Roth also discloses that while she didn’t set the
first draft of the dystopian novel in any particular location, when she started revising,
she came to understand that “a distinct sense of place” would better define
this dysfunctional world. Then when Roth looked back
at the first draft, complete with constantly moving elevated trains, she
realized that she subconsciously set the tale in Chicago. Roth explains, “They’re almost like a
creature. They move constantly, and it’s
not entirely clear who is driving them.
And that really appealed to me because that’s been my experience on the
L in Chicago” (‘Allegiant’, 2013, October 22, para. 23-24).
Roth also recognizes the appeal of apocalyptic themes that young adult readers so identify with when she says, “I think that’s the
time when you start to discover that the world is not as pretty and shiny as it
seemed when you were a child. So
dystopian and futurist books seem like a way of acknowledging the difficulties
that teenagers are encountering, or at least notice they exist” (‘Allegiant’,
2013, October 22, para. 25-26). Moreover, Roth subsequently confesses, “High
school is the ultimate dystopia” (‘Allegiant’, 2013, October 22, para. 27).
Roth’s epiphany came when she realized that her parents weren’t perfect; at which point, she
had to admit to herself that “even the people who are supposed to love you best
and love you the most have secrets and have a whole other life outside of you
that is not always rosy” (‘Allegiant’, 2013, October 22, para. 28-29).
As for Allegiant's end, Roth tried to keep it
a secret as long as possible, even though Roth does divulge that she always knew its ending. She additionally promises that sometime in the future, she will talk about how the final ending of the trilogy is set up in each book
(‘Allegiant’, 2013, October, 22, para. 30-36).
Roth feels bittersweet about leaving Tris’s society behind, for she has a “deep affection” for the characters, and the story
has changed “huge parts” of her life (‘Allegiant’, 2013, October 22, para. 37). At the conclusion of the interview, Young
points listeners to an excerpt from Allegiant that readers can find online: http://www.hereandnow.org.
(‘Allegiant’, 2013, October 22, para. 40).
Ammons, Joanna. (2013, November 29). A dystopian world's fate depends on a young girl. Yahoo Voices.
Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/divergent-divergent-series-12425030.html
Ammons suggests that “the originality of the plot,
the well-built characters, the life-changing decisions the protagonist has to
make” have all turned Veronica Roth’s first novel into a world-wide best
seller. The plot revolves around the
decision that Chicago native Beatrice Prior, or Tris, makes went leaving school whereupon she surprises not only her family but
herself. At this point, young
adults pick the faction whose virtue they respect the most, choosing between Candor, a group that most appreciates honesty, Abnegation, a sect that prizes altruism
and self-sacrifice, Dauntless, a subculture that strives for bravery, Amity, a
society that seeks harmony, and the Erudite, who see value only
in the pursuit of knowledge (Ammons, 2013, November 29, para. 1-2).
Once Tris decides to join the Dauntless faction, she must undergo a hazing that includes physical tests and
life-like psychological simulations.
Hiding a secret about her psychological profile that could put her life
in danger, Tris also learns about a conflict between factions that could destroy what she thought to be a perfect society (Ammons, 2013, November
29, para. 3).
Ammons particularly recommends this very-fast read
to Hunger Games fans, for not only does it emphasize “friendship, community,
and the importance of one’s decisions”, but it also serves as the basis for a
movie produced by Summit Entertainment (Ammons, 2013, November 29, para. 4).
Calderon, Arielle.
(2013, October 23). 19 things you Should know about The
"Divergent" series from author Veronica Roth. BuzzFeed
Books. Retrieved from http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/divergent-veronica-roth
Calderon lists 19 spoilers that Divergent fans might
not know about their favorite characters in this dystopian trilogy.
Chase, Serena. (2012, June 13). Review: 'Insurgent' by Veronica Roth. USA
Today. Retrieved from http://books.usatoday.com/happyeverafter/post/2012-06-12/insurgent-review-veronica-roth/715001/1
Genre:
YA Dystopian Romance
Insurgent
takes up where Veronica Roth’s Divergent leaves
off immediately after the Dauntless group's surprise attack on the Abnegation faction while Divergents like the protagonist, Tris
Prior, and her boyfriend, Four, are on the run from the leader of the Erudite
faction. Tris worries that Four’s
troubled childhood will overly influence his view
of events, but she is also willing to sacrifice herself for others—if Four
will let her. New evidence, however, surfaces that might mean that Tris and Four must
betray their friends, their faction, or each other (Chase, 2012, June 13, para.
1-3).
Hits
& Misses
Chase agrees with other reviewers that Roth’s novels are “video-game-like” in their “visual intensity” and their “surprise-around-every-corner plot”. But Chase would rather compare her novels “to the prospect of having an unlimited supply of chocolate-covered pretzels while watching the best flippin’ action movie . . . ever” (Chase, 2012, June 13, para. 4). Accordingly, Chase finds the first two novels in the Divergent series “utterly addictive”, so she isn’t surprised that “Hollywood is already promising a Divergent movie” (Chase, 2012, June 13, para. 5).
Insurgent presents Tris as a realistic protagonist, “forced to grow up quickly, playing the part of the betrayer and the betrayed and maturing by both necessity and choice” (Chase, 2012, June 13, para. 6). All the same, Chase finds Tris’s unspoken guilt almost mawkish, even if this obsession remains true to her age, character, and personality profile (Chase, 2012, June 13, para. 7). Meanwhile, “Yowza—the physical aspect of the relationship between Four and Tris has matured significantly from . . . book one, yet it never crossed the [R] line” (Chase, 2012, June 13, para. 8).
As to the decision of whether to read Insurgent or not, enjoying Insurgent depends on the reader’s familiarity with Divergent (Chase, 2012, June 13, para. 9). Like Divergent, Insurgent also ends with a cliff-hanging surprise that heaps even more responsibility upon Tris, Four, and their friends when they catch a glimpse of the world beyond their city-state (Chase, 2012, June 13, para. 10).
Carpenter, Susan. (2012, May 6). Not Just for Kids: 'Insurgent' by Veronica Roth. Entertainment. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/06/entertainment/la-ca-veronica-roth-review-20120506
The success of the Hunger Games has started an explosion of dystopian Young Adult novels, the best of which rearrange society in unfamiliar and inventively oppressive ways, giving rise to female leads who rebel against their oppressive circumstances, thus revealing their strengths and leading to romance. Such an alluring formula propels first novelists like Veronica Roth to the top of the best-seller lists (Carpenter, 2012, May 5, para. 1-2).
Following this formula, the kickoff to the Divergent trilogy forces 16-year-old Beatrice to leave her Abnegation family for the Dauntless since it better suits her “adventurous and questioning nature”. This decision ultimately draws her into a relationship with Four (a.k.a. Tobias), who declares his love to her at the end of the first novel. But at the same time, both of Tris’s parents are killed in a Dauntless attack, and the couple must enter into a tentative alliance with their Abnegation birth faction while Tris questions why the Erudite faction used the Dauntless to attack the self-effacing Abnegation (Carpenter, 2012, May 5, para. 3-4 & 7).
Tris and Four as well as the Abnegation they rescued seek temporary refuge in the Amity compound where its residents refuse to acknowledge that any violent confrontations have occurred between the factions. As opposed to the Amity drug-fueled tranquility, Tris and Four intensify their bond by conquering their fears in hallucinogenic simulations while the ruthless Erudite leader also elicits information from unwilling rival factions by administering serum-induced hallucinogenic trials (Chase, 2012, May 5, para. 5-6).
Just as Tris's self-sacrificing parents make up a critical part of the story line in Divergent, Four’s troubled childhood serves as the back story to Insurgent, for he confronts an abusive dad and allies with a mom who has abandoned her family to live with the Factionless outcasts and overthrow the established faction system. Thus, the twists and turns of the Insurgent plot force Young Adult readers to confront ideas like nature versus nurture and family expectations versus free well, thus leading them to understand that no one can be defined by a single characteristic (Chase, 2012, May 5, para. 7-8).
Chase believes that the shifting allegiances in Insurgent result in a more-complicated story that requires more careful reading than Divergent, for while it is filed with action, complete with a surprising end, it also focuses on Tris’s guilt over her parents' death and an angst fueled by the actions she must undertake in order to survive (Chase, 2012, May 5, para. 9).
Deutsch, Lindsay. (2014, January 9). Veronica Roth's 'Divergent' trilogy claims top 3 on USA TODAY's list. USA TODAY. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2014/01/09/book-buzz/4393105/
Divergent hit number one on TODAY’s best-selling books list USA for the first time last week while Insurgent and Allegiant placed two and three. A movie tie-in paperback for Divergent is due out February 11, 2014.
Dobbins, Amanda. (2013, July 18). What you need to know about Divergent, the New Hunger Games. VULTURE. Retrieved from http://www.vulture.com/2013/07/what-you-need-to-know-about-divergent.html
At Comic.com, Summit Entertainment introduced a graphic adaption of Divergent, a dystopian novel that is set to be the next Hunger Games. Reading a trend, Dobbins offers a primer on Divergent (2013, July 18, para. 1).
Tell me about the dystopian society.
A futuristic Chicago keeps the peace to dividing its citizens into five factions determined by the individual’s most dominant personality trait: Dauntless, courage; Amity, reconciliation; Candor, frankness to a fault; Erudite, scholarly, and Abnegation. self-sacrifice (Dobbins, 2013, July 18, para. 2).
Do the teenagers go through a sorting ceremony?
Shades of Harry
Potter—yes, the day before 16-year-old students choose their avocation and lifestyle, they receive an injection that takes them on
a hallucinogenic trip, and based on each test taker's response to stimuli, an examiner classifies his or her personality type. Families ordinarily shun those who have
chosen a different faction from their parents (Dobbins, 2013, July 18, para. 3).
Is there a strong, slightly stubborn teen heroine who doesn’t realize her own worth?
Like Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, Beatrice, or later, Tris, questions
her self-worth, so she doesn’t join her birth faction, but instead Tris joins the Dauntless Goth-like faction to test her bravery (Dobbins, 2013, July
18, para. 4).
What makes her so special?
Tris is a Divergent, meaning she would fit in
several different factions. Fearing individuals whose personalities show several strengths, unnamed authorities are trying to eliminate citizens classified as Divergent (Dobbins, 2013, July 18, para. 5).
How does she become the Chosen One?
Secret Divergents remain the only characters who have the
moral or physical power to fight a faction’s tyranny (Dobbins, 2013, July
18, para. 6).
Is there a super-hot guy who helps her with the rebellion?
Four, the Dauntless (and secretly Divergent) instructor, is a hunk.
Is it very violent?
Life in dystopian Chicago is nasty, brutish and short. The plot kills off lots of characters.
Is it a not-so-secret abstinence book?
A drug-induced fear simulation reveals that Tris fears intimacy, so
she doesn’t go all the way with Four.
Is the end better than Mockingjay’s?
Is the end better than Mockingjay’s?
Dobbins prefers not to reveal the ending of the trilogy (2013, July 18, para. 7).
Gundell, Sara. (2013, October 29). 'Allegiant' by Veronica Roth is a disappointing end to the 'Divergent' series. Arts & Entertainment Books. Examiner. http://www.examiner.com/review/allegiant-by-veronica-roth-is-a-disappointing-end-to-the-divergent-series
Gundell pans the last installment of Veronica Roth’s Divergent series, Allegiant, as “a whimpering end” that fell flat” while also noting that the depressing ending angered many fans of the series (Gundell, 2013, October 29, para. 1-2). Nevertheless, Gundell finds that the finale makes sense as part of a larger story arc even if the book as a whole is “blah” when compared to the much-hyped first book in the series, Divergent, which she believes lives up to its pre-publication publicity just as she admires the climactic twist in Insurgent (2013, October 29, para. 3-4).
Allegiant disappoints Gundell since she feels the second narrator is contrived and unnecessary, and it also changes the scope of the story, making Four a more central character. Moreover, Gundell finds that the narrative is underdeveloped, short on action, and long on dialogue [not to mention Christ-figure symbolism] (2013, October 29, para. 5-8).
Jensen, Kelly (2013, October 14). Beyond the bestsellers: So you’ve read DIVERGENT. Bookriot. Retrieved from http://bookriot.com/2013/10/14/beyond-bestsellers-youve-read-divergent/
Jensen reviews several books young adults will enjoy reading if they like Veronica Roth’s Divergent series, although she also cautions, “Just remember that no book will ever be “the next Divergent” because we already have Divergent” (2013, October 14, para. 3). As for the Divergent novel itself, Jensen identifies it as a dystopian story set in the future in a repressive society that indoctrinates and controls its citizenry (2014, October 14, para. 4).
In Divergent’s case, this begins with testing 16-year-old students for personality traits and segregating them into classes that share the same dominate personality type while those who fail to meet their new faction's standards become the Factorless--untouchables, who work at menial jobs, supporting the personality-driven casts. Jensen subsequently praises Divergent as “fast-paced, . . . quick-to-read, . . . plot-driven, . . . and suspenseful, with lots of forward momentum” (2014, October 14, para. 5); so much so, that “each volume in the series may induce a marathon, page-turning, I’m going to finish this book tonight session.” Moreover, Jensen notes that that the female protagonist, Tris, is a “dynamic” female character, who at least at the beginning of the trilogy before she learns the redeeming value of self-sacrifice is “equal parts intelligent and head strong” (2014, October 14, para. 6).
Upon finishing the Divergent series, Jensen recommends that Young Adult readers sample the following dystopian series: Moira Young’s Blood Red Road and The “Dustlands” trilogy--the next installment of which, Raging Star, is due out in April 2014, Ann Aguirre’s Enclave in The “Razorland” series, and Joelle Charbonneau’s The Testing in The “Testing” Series. The second installment in the Charbonneau’s series, Independent Study, has a publication date of January 2014 while the third book, Graduation Day, is due out in June 2014 (2014, October 14, para. 7-9). Additionally, Jensen suggests that dystopian/sci-fi fans take a look at Marie Lu’s Legend series, Michael Grant’s Gone series, as well as Megan McCafferty’s Bumped and Thumped, which take a satirical look at the subgenre (2014, October 14, para. 10).
Books
Mentioned in Jensen ’s Review (Listed alphabetically
by author)
Aguirre, Ann. (2011). Enclave. New York: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan).
---. (2012). Outpost. New York: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan).
---. (2013). Horde. New York: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillian).
Charbonneau, Joelle. (2013). The Testing. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
---. (2014). Independent Study: The Testing. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Grant, Michael. (2009). Gone. New York: HarperCollins.
---. (2010). Hunger: A Gone Novel. New York: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins).
---. (2011). Lies: A Gone Novel. New York: HarperCollins.
---. (2011). Plague: A Gone Novel. New York: HarperCollins.
---. (2013). Light: A Gone Novel. New York: HarperCollins.
---. (2013). Fear:
A Gone Novel. New York: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins).
McCafferty, Megan. (2011). Bumped. New York: HarperCollins.
---. (2012). Thumped. New York: HarperCollins.
Young, Moira. (2011). Blood Red Road. Dustland Series. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster).
---. (2012). Rebel Heart. Dustland Series. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster).
Keller, Jessica. (2013, October 29). Why I write young adult fiction. A Place to Belong. Word Press. Retrieved from http://jesskeller.wordpress.com/tag/divergent-series
Spoiler Alert
Spoilers for Allegiant and The Fault in Our Stars not to mention Lord of the Flies and the Harry Potter series (1-3):
Keller looked forward to reading Allegiant, the last installment in the Divergent
series, having loved the first book tentatively, liked the second, but she found the third a “complete disappointment”, for Veronica
Roth “failed a generation of teen readers who are looking for a new brand of
expectation and optimism” (Keller, 2013, October 29, para. 4-5).
Keller thus reprimands Roth, for she has failed in
her responsibility to offer her readers “hope within the pages of a book” as
William Faulkner charged in his December 10, 1950, Nobel Prize acceptance
speech: “The writer’s duty is to help man endure by lifting his heart, by
reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and
pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past” (Keller, 2013, October 29, para. 6).
Although a novel or a series of novels doesn’t
necessarily have to have a happy ending, Keller explains that the writer needs
to leave “a window left open”, so the beloved characters “can move on from
tragedy. There must be hope” (Keller,
2013, October 29, para. 7-8).
Even so, Keller partially justifies Roth's ending by acknowledging that today’s young adults are growing up in a different and less optimistic world from the Harry Potter generation. Keller therefore argues that “contemporary young adult readers aren’t looking for books about saving the world–only the hope of saving one small corner of it—where they find their own personal peace even if it is only shared by two people (Keller, 2013, October 29, para. 12).
While ideally fiction struggles with the reality of life, Keller suggests that in Allegiant Roth failed to show what might be possible since she slapped her audience with present-day reality, showing teens “their life, their struggles, their fight for right . . . none of that matters in the end.” All of which left the majority of those writing Amazon reviews disillusioned (Keller, 2013, October 29, para. 13-15).
Keller acknowledges that five-star reviews applauded Roth for her courage at giving Allegiant “a realistic ending”, but she also notes that 95 percent of the readers wanted a they lived happily ever after conclusion. Additionally, Keller explains that “even within realism, hope is usually the end game” (Keller, 2013, October 29, para. 16-18).
For example, even when Augustus dies from terminal
cancer in The Fault in Our
Stars (2012), John Green didn't break his promise of hope, for readers know
from the start that they are reading a book about a dying teen; and although
Augustus did die in the end, Hazel understood that her love for him didn’t perish (Keller,
2013, October 29, para. 19-20).
Keller further explains that an author can
successfully demonstrate a novel’s theme by killing off a beloved second
character like Augustus or Piggy in William Golding’s dystopian Lord of the Flies (1954). After all, killing off the main character in
young adult fiction is hard to do unless the author brings a character back
after death like J. K. Rowling did in the Harry Potter series
(Keller, 2013, October 29, para. 21).
A silver lining, however, does exist since the upsetting ending of Roth’s Allegiant goads her to write young adult
fiction “full of turmoil and struggles and hurt, but all of which are covered
in an end ‘with an open window’, one that blatantly leads my readers to hope”
(Keller, 2013, October 29, para. 22).
Kelly. (2013, December 3). Review- Allegiant
(Divergent Series # 3) by Veronica Roth. Book
Gossips. Retrieved
from http://bookgossips.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/review-allegiant-divergent-series-3-by-veronica-roth/
After furnishing a blurb for Roth’s Allegiant (2013, December 3, para. 1-2),
Kelly launches into an explanation and opinion and then sums up the novel.
Explanation
Allegiant opens with Tris and Four joining other malcontents, who now call themselves the Allegiant, hoping to make a stand against the Factionless group and its leader, Evelyn Johnson, Four’s mother. Since they want to bring order to their city, Tris, Four, and their friends head outside the city limits where few of those who originally belonged to the five factions have previously gone. Here they learn about the origins and purpose of the factions. At this point, they must either assist the caretakers who live beyond their society’s known boundaries or to fight for those they have left inside the city (Kelly, 2013, December 3, para. 3).
Opinion
Kelly recognizes Allegiant as a book “that is so different, exhilarating and refreshing that it takes your breath away…,” for Roth has elevated it from a “mediocre read to an EPIC novel, by creating a diverse and unpredictable plot. How do you make a book truly EPIC? You leave the reader reeling, with the most unsatisfied taste in their mouth after turning the last page!” (Kelly, 2013, December 3, para. 4). Even though it took Kelly awhile to read halfway through the book because she didn’t want to discover anything that could harm the main characters, she persevered, and all she can say is “Wow, Veronica Roth, WOW! (2013, December 3, para. 5).
Kelly thus praises Roth for not tying up all the loose ends at novel’s end like Stephanie Meyer’s mediocre Twilight series did (Kelly, 2013, December 3, para. 6). Additionally, Kelly feels that the two-narrator ending added necessary insights to help the reader understand the story from both Four and Tris’s point of view: Four's narrative allows readers to understand how much he had come to care for Tris and how his reaction against his parents’ actions had shaped his life choices. Tris on the other hand continues with “the same, strong, determined and selfless voice” that readers will recognize from the first two novels in the Divergent trilogy (Kelly, 2013, December 3, para. 7).
Summary
While Divergent could have been “just another nice, teen book series” where the female protagonist achieves her fondest dreams, Kelly believes that Roth’s portrayal of an atypical young woman has turned it into a best seller. Kelly then lauds Allegiant as “fantastic” and the Divergent series as “amazing” (Kelly, 2013, December 3, para. 8).
Keryn, Mariah.
(2013, December 31). Divergent series. Just a
little bit of this and that. Word
Press. Retrieved from
http://mariahkeryn.wordpress.com/tag/divergent-series/
Mariah Keryn picked up Veronica Roth’s ubiquitous Divergent series since she kept seeing
copies of the book on sale everywhere she turned, but then she knew from the
start “that it was the kind of book that I would love” (2013, December 31,
para. 1).
Beatrice Prior lives in a
dystopian society where everyone age 16 and over except the factionless belongs to a faction based on
personality type. While Beatrice is born
into the Abnegation faction whose members attempt to live as selflessly as possible, she
doesn’t feel that her personality fits in with this group. Thus, when testing reveals that her personality
isn’t limited to one attribute but shares traits of the Erudite, Abnegation,
and Dauntless personalities, Beatrice makes a painful life choice, and thereafter, Tris, her Dauntless identity, has to
live with its consequences (Keryn, 2013, December 31, para. 1).
Keryn then briefly summarizes the plots of the last
two novels in the series as full of revolutionaries, classical antagonists, and
“some really cool futuristic serums”—Insurgent
is about discovering flaws in a dysfunctional political system as well as
“doing whatever 16-year-olds” can do to fix them”—while Allegiant “finishes everything up” while giving Keryn a “a good
15-minute” cry at the end (Keryn 2013, December 31, para. 2-3).
Kilmer, Keith. (2014, January 18). Divergent
series—Divergent review. Retrieved from http://www.keithkilmer.com/divergent-series-divergent-a-review/
Roth, Veronica. (2011). Divergent. New York: Katherine Tegan Books
(HarperCollins Publishers).
Since Keith
Kilmer is a fan of dystopian fiction, the Divergent series intrigue him, for it is an interesting read with a writing style that is “very
inviting and easy to maintain for most level young adult readers” (2014, January
18, para. 1).
Divergent opens when Beatrice Prior takes an
aptitude test where a serum induces a series of
hallucinations that will force her to make decisions that reveal her dominant
personality whereupon the results of the exam will place her in one of five personality-driven factions that make
up a futurist, dystopian Chicago: Abnegation, Candor, Erudite, Amity, and
Dauntless (Kilmer, 2014, January 18, para. 2-4):
- Abnegation, the faction Beatrice’s family belongs to, is the ruling party because of its supposed selflessness since members of this group strive to put aside individual desires to help others. Members of this almost monastic-like sect wear grey and attempt to adopt an unassuming nature (Kilmer, 2014, January 18, para. 5).
- The Erudite faction, dressed in blue, values intelligence over conscience and avoids showing outward emotions while favoring logic. These ambitious creators of dangerous, mind-controlling serums also attempt to manipulate and destroy rival factions (Kilmer, 2014, January 18, para. 6).
- The Dauntless defend and police Chicago, exercising sole control the society’s weaponry and training constantly for combat. Charging in without forethought, they value unquestioning bravery above all other traits. Their Goth-like tattoos and body piercings as well as their tight and revealing clothes showcase their boldness (Kilmer, 2014, January 18, para. 7).
- While the Candor value truth, they enjoy debating while not acting upon their beliefs. At initiation, they make candidates admit their deepest secrets since members of this tactless group always say what they think (Kilmer, 2014, January 18, para. 8).
- The Amity, a hippie-like cult, above all else value happiness, using drugs to
maintain peace among their elect. Members
wear yellow and red and grow fruit on the outskirts of the city (Kilmer, 2014,
January 18, para. 9).
Upon taking the aptitude test, Beatrice Prior finds out that she has a divergent personality, for instead of possessing one dominant personality trait, her character displays three governing qualities, making her a “dangerous anomaly”. At the Choosing Ceremony, both Beatrice and her brother Caleb leave the Abnegation faction--Caleb choosing Erudite, and Beatrice opting for Dauntless. Since the family is now fragmented, the narrative focuses on Beatrice, or Tris, as she now wants to be called, periodically looking in on Caleb and allowing Tris an occasional meeting with her mother. Fearless Tris adapts to the rigorous Dauntless regime and starts to excel (Kilmer, 2014, January 18, para. 10-11).
A recently enhanced Spartan training schedule pits Dauntless initiates against each other until the loser can’t continue as the conditioning mercilessly breaks them down, weeding out the weaker candidates and making the remaining inductees stronger fighters, thus foretelling an upcoming need for this expertise (Kilmer, 2014, January 18, para. 12).
A romance develops between Tris and one of her trainers, Four, a nickname that honors the fact that he has only four fears. While using a serum to reveal the fears that each Dauntless recruit must learn to face, Tris discovers that she has the power to resist the serum because she is a Divergent. She also finds out that divergent personalities are disappearing because they are branded as dangerous (Kilmer, 2014, January 18, para. 13).
The climax reveals a secret pact between the Dauntless and Erudite leaders. Although the Erudite supposedly inject the Dauntless with a serum to test their fears, it’s really a serum that causes the Dauntless to attack the Abnegation faction (Kilmer, 2014, January 18, para. 14).
Tris and Four are among the few secretly Divergent Dauntless who can resist the serum, so they set out to rescue their Abnegation birth families from a surprise, unprovoked attack. As the first novel in the trilogy closes, these hybrids rush to the Dauntless headquarters to end a simulation that controls all Dauntless actions (Kilmer, 2014, January 18, para. 15-16).
Kilmer isn’t afraid to point out Divergent’s weaknesses--Roth spends a lot of time setting the scene and slowing down the plot’s action--while he also praises its strengths: The reader “becomes engrossed in Tris’s development”, all the while wondering how this will influence the story line. Tris's “romantic connection to Four doesn’t feel forced. Furthermore, her character develops at a “steady, believable pace” as Divergent provides a commentary on human nature by pointing out that personality traits become disruptive when they are isolated (2014, January 19, para. 17-18). Upon completing this analysis, Kilmer concludes that it is “a wonderful first novel . . . that a reader can devour” (2014, January 18, para. 19).
Mathis, Meg. (2013). Veronica Roth closes the 'Divergent' series. Michigan Avenue. Retrieved from http://michiganavemag.com/personalities/articles/veronica-roth-divergent-books
While Veronica Roth regrets not taking the time to learn to cook and develop hobbies, the 25-year-old Northwestern University graduate isn’t a slacker, having already sold four million copies of the first two titles in her dystopian trilogy, both of which having enjoyed “an impressive run on the New York Times best-seller list. The series will end with the release October 22nd release of her final novel Allegiant (Mathis, 2014, January 18, para. 1-2).
Roth, a native of Barrington, Illinois, an affluent Chicago suburb, nevertheless explains her writing process, “With the first book, Divergent, I just sat down and started to go. I wrote pieces from the middle and then worked back to the beginning . . . . With the second and third books, I had to learn how to outline because the books became complicated. Allegiant was totally outlined before I wrote it” (Mathis, 2014, January 18, para. 2-3).
As a fervent reader long fascinated with science fiction and fantasy, Roth also recalls her dad recommending Frank Herbert’s Dune, which, in turn, led Roth to read the Animorophs series. The psychological concept of exposure therapy in turn inspired Roth’s determination to write about a cult who condition themselves to become fearless. Roth began her first draft of the novel during her senior year a Northwestern, and she credits the creative writing program’s group workshop for the critiques that shaped her writing skill (Mathis, 2014, January 18, para. 3).
A film adaptation of Divergent produced by Summit Entertainment is set to debut March 21, 2014, starring Shailene Woodley as Tris and Kate Winslet as her Erudite foil, Jeanine Matthews. Summit filmed the picture entirely in Chicago, so Roth explains, “Everything looks familiar, but it’s a totally different animal seeing it in real life—people walking around in this world that I built.” Not that Roth would wish it any other way, “I’m doing what I want to be doing” (Mathis, 2014, January 18, para. 4).
Power, Meghan. (2012, July 27). Divergent series poised to be next big hit: Dystopia takeover in young adult lit. Oak Park.com. Retrieved from http://www.oakpark.com/Community/Blogs/7-27-2012/Divergent-series-poised-to-be-next-big-hit/
The next big hit at the box office to emerge from Young Adult literature will be Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy since “it is arguably better than Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games and flat out better than Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Series” (Power, 2012, July 27, para. 1-2). Power thus recommends that Hunger Games fans brace themselves for “fast-paced action with light romance” (2012, July 27, para. 3).
While Power doesn’t deny that Twilight is entertaining, Meyer has written what her English teacher would label as a “ ‘not very-well written’ ‘fluff’ book—an easy read that provides a good romance story but leaves the vampires and the werewolves as almost a subplot” (2012, July 27, para. 4). As for The Hunger Games, Power finds the series more captivating than Twilight, although she faults the slow plot of its final installment, Mockingjay (2012, July 27, para. 5).
Similarly, Power argues that Divergent is a better-written book than Insurgent. Set in a dystopian Chicago sometime in the future, the series follows the adventures of 16-year-old Beatrice “Tris” Prior, who has elected to live as part of the Dauntless faction. Born into an Abnegation family, Tris struggles with her decision to join the Dauntless while also entering into a subtle romantic relationship with her trainer (2012, July 27, para. 6-7).
Even though Powers doesn’t want to reveal the twist in the plot at the end of Roth’s second novel, she looks forward to reading Roth’s third novel in the trilogy. While J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series will remain Power’s favorite sequence of young adult novels, Roth’s Divergent has restored her hope “that unique and complex plot lines for young adult novels still exist” (2012, July 27, para. 8-9).
Scoville, Heather. (2014). Pop culture and evolution--Divergent book series. Evolution. About.com. Retrieved from http://evolution.about.com/od/Pop-Culture/fl/Pop-Culture-and-Evolution-Divergent-Book-Series.htm
Almost every Young Adult dystopian book series recently published has morphed into a TV series or a movie, and while their fans insist that these Sci-Fi novels don’t focus on the theme of evolution, they do explore the ultimate consequences of progressive social evolution. Accordingly, the first novel in Veronica Roth’s Divergent series is being made into a movie, and it too has an evolution—or more accurately-- an anti-evolution premise (Scoville, 2014, para. 1).
In the Divergent series (Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant), citizens of a futuristic Chicago have divided themselves into five different factions based on the personality trait members of a particular faction value: The selfless choose the Abnegation faction; the brave elect the Dauntless faction; the peaceful choose the Amity group; the brutally honest pick Candor, and the Intellectuals decide to be Erudite, for they value knowledge to the exclusion of other characteristics (Scoville, 2014, para. 2).
Every year, 16-year-old students undergo a test that recommends the faction that best fits their personality traits before they publicly announce the faction where they will spend the rest of their life in a Choosing Day Ceremony. The heroine, Beatrice “Tris” Prior, receives inconclusive results from her aptitude test that indicate her type of personality values more than one personality trait, so she must keep secret the dangerous results of this test both from everyone, including the members of her own family (Scoville, 2014, para. 3).
Note: Here Scoville warns readers that if they haven’t read the subsequent novels in the Divergent series, they might not want to continue reading her review (Scoville, 2014, para. 4).
Genetics and Evolution in the Divergent Series:
As the series continues, Tris and her allies discover that they are part of a
controlled experiment overseen by scientists outside the city, who are using
Chicago as a laboratory to determine if society can control the genetically-damaged
by segregating them from other personality types. These scientists classify the Divergent as
“genetically pure” while the non-divergent are “genetically-damaged,
second-class citizens” (Scoville, 2014, para. 5).
Although the series doesn’t provide much detail about what makes certain individuals genetically pure, the experiment intends to find and mate Divergents, so war and famine will no longer happen. It isn’t until Tris and her fellow Divergents leave the city that artificial selection takes place. Individuals like Tris with a genetically pure background integrate the values of all five factions into their own personalities and stand the best chance to become a “well-balanced, productive citizen” (Scoville, 2014, para. 6).
Shanley-Dillman, Chris. (2011, May 3). Divergent by Veronica Roth. Bookreporter. Retrieved from http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/divergent
Chicago native Beatrice Prior lives in a dystopian future: The 16-year-old’s world fits into Chicago city limits, but within the city, different factions segregate themselves by personality types [except for the Factionless] wherein different personality types establish lifestyles that support their goals: The self-effacing and charitable Abnegation faction most values selflessness; the daring Dauntless cherish courage; Candor treasures sometimes brutal truth above all else, the Erudite respect knowledge to the exclusion of other traits, and members of the Amity faction cherish harmony and kindness. Separated by personality, these groups in the past have attempted to work together to form what they hold up to be a perfect society (Shanley-Dillman, 2011, May 3, para. 1).
When young adults reach 16, they take an aptitude test [or rather they undergo a series of hallucinations administered through a serum] that determines which personality type they fit. On the following day at the Choosing Ceremony, each individual must decide which lifestyle to embrace. The majority will continue in their birth faction, but some choose a different faction, severing ties with parents and siblings, for in this Chicago, the faction becomes the individual’s new family since society indoctrinates each individual to prize “faction over blood” (Shanley-Dillman, 2011, May 3, para. 2).
At the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice has to decide which faction she should choose. Beatrice is not particularly surprised when her aptitude test doesn’t recommend Abnegation, for she isn’t always good at being completely selfless, but she is taken aback when the aptitude testing is inconclusive, which makes her an extremely rare Divergent personality type. Cautioned by her tester not to tell anyone the results of the test, Beatrice can either choose to accept her birth faction or dare to live and work as another personality type (Shanley-Dillman, 2011, May 3, para. 3).
Appraising her own sense of self, Beatrice joins the Dauntless faction, so she has to take part in a series of grueling and rigorous mental and physical tests to prove her worth. If she fails, she will become an outcast, excluded by the screening process. However, to survive her initiation, she will have to reinvent herself and overcome her greatest fears. As if to signify this change, Beatrice announces upon her spectacular arrival at Dauntless headquarters that she is now Tris. Her alter-ego will fall in love with one of her trainers while trying to cope with “a well-ordered society” that will soon fall apart from within (Shanley-Dillman, 2011, May 3, para. 4). Thus, this paradoxically, introspective protagonist reveals that she is also full of intensity and energy in a first-person narrative that “challenges readers to look at their own lives” (Shanley-Dillman, 2011, May 3, para. 5).
Slivinski, Krystyna. (2013, October 11). Midnight party welcomes 'Allegiant' to suburban stores. Home > Featured Articles > Veronica Roth. News. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-22/news/ct-tl-naperville-divergent-20131022_1_book-shop-first-book-veronica-roth
Krystyna Slivinski gives readers a brief look at the “super fans” of Veronica Roth’s Divergent series who are propelling the trilogy to cult status. For example, Donna Saffaei, a 22 year-old University of Iowa student, after finishing an exam Monday evening, has driven three hours to Napierville, Illinois, to attend a midnight release party for Allegiant at the Anderson Bookshop. Furthermore, “she’s not sure when she will sleep . . ., but she knows she’s close to powerless when it comes to putting the book down” (Slivinski, 2013, October 11, para. 1-4). Sliviniski, who has “devoured” the Harry Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games series, is also very much a fan, for she puts Divergent at the top of her list, for it’s “a lot more realistic”. Slivinski also admits to reading Divergent in a single sitting (Slivinski, 2013, October 11, para. 5).
Chicago-area residents, however, find the Divergent series even more extraordinary because Roth, who comes from suburban Barrington, Illinois, sets the trilogy in a broken-down, dystopian Chicago. Accordingly, young adult Chicagoans find a special sense of verisimilitude, or credibility, when the characters walk the Navy Pier or more memorably prove their courage and intelligence by climbing the structure of its Ferris Wheel, or literally jump on and off the “L” train—all of which will appear on the big screen when a film based on the first book, Divergent, opens (Slivinski, 2013, October 11, para. 6-7).
However, the Divergent series appeal isn’t limited only to teens and young adults since when the bookstore opened at 10:30 in the morning, two suburban moms age 39 and 36 were waiting in line to purchase the the last installment whereupon one of them noted, “I’m going home and reading this all night” (Slivinski, 2013, October 11, para. 10-11). One local patron, age 20, also scored points with Divergent fans when she revealed she was an extra Dauntless character on the movie set (Slivinski, 2013, October 11, para. 12).
Thea. (2011, June 15). Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth. The Book Smugglers. Retrieved from http://thebooksmugglers.com/2011/06/book-review-divergent-by-veronica-roth.html
- Author: Veronica Roth
- Genre: Dystopian, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult
- Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (Harper Teen)
- Publication Date: May 2011(Paperback: 487 Pages)
- Stand alone or series:
Book 1 in a planned series
Thea, although originally skeptical about Divergent’s premise, read the novel because she is “kind of a dystopian fiend”, and it has been on her radar for a while (Thea, 2011, June 15, para. 4). She explains, “Divergent is Veronica Roth’s debut novel, and the latest entry in a long string of dystopian hopefuls, attempting to cash in on the blockbuster success of The Trilogy That Must Not Be Named. The outbreak of so-called dystopias has been both a blessing and a curse for the avid fan” (Thea, 2011, June 15, para. 17).
Set in a future urban society, Divergent divides along five factions [not counting the factionless] each devoted to cultivating a particular virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. So on a scheduled day each year, all students leaving school must decide in which faction they will spend their lives. Thus, Beatrice Prior, age 16, must decide to stay with her family or be true to who she really is, so she makes a choice that even surprises herself (Thea, 2011, June 15, para. 1).
Upon jumping from the L train into Dauntless headquarters shortly after the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice renames herself Tris—a name that signifies her struggle to find out who she is. Tris, however, also must keep a secret since revealing that she is a Divergent personality can mean death. As society around her unravels, she must again determine whether her secret will save lives or bring about her own death (Thea, 2011, June 15, para. 2).
Review:
On the brink of apocalypse, society in Chicago has reorganized itself into five factions each upholding a “single core value”: The Abnegation faction swear to be selfless and always serve others’ needs; the Erudite faction seek knowledge above all else; the Candor faction resolve always to be sometimes painfully forthright; the Amity faction agree to live in peace at all costs, and the brave Dauntless faction value often unthinking valor (Thea, 2011, June 15, para. 5).
Beatrice has lived her life trying to conform to the values of her Abnegation parents as she tries to be kind like her mother, calm like her older brother, Caleb, and as commendable as her dad. But since Beatrice feels unworthy of this selfless faction, she feels she doesn’t belong there. So when her aptitude tests reveal dominant traits of the Erudite, Abnegation, and Dauntless factions, “she follows her heart and chooses to be selfish but brave” (Thea, 2011, June 15, para. 16). Thus, struggling to fulfill the requirements of her ruthless initiation, she ultimately not only tests her valor but finds out what it means to be a selfless Divergent (Thea, 2011, June 15, para. 16).
Thea appreciates “the inherent simplicity and implausibility” in the social structure that makes up Divergent society, for “how could any one person, with . . . myriad emotions and experiences, be reduced to a single quality . . . at the age of sixteen, no less” (Thea, 2011, June 15, para. 18). Even so, Thea also criticizes Divergent's first chapter for sharing too many similarities with Lois Lowry’s dystopian 1994 Newberry Award winner The Giver (1993). In Lowry's award-winning novel, 12-year-old adolescents take aptitude tests to place themselves in one of 12 different job categories, but the protagonist, like Beatrice, doesn’t fit into any “clear-cut” category. Once Tris begins her Dauntless initiation, however, Thea becomes engrossed in the story (2011, June 15, para. 19).
Tris differs from the typical female protagonist who leans on a strong male to protect her, for “she’s vindictive as hell”
and learns to “toughen up and become a better fighter”, even though “she never
becomes an amazing bad a--, sharp shooting-ninja warrior” In other words, Roth
maintains a “believable tension” between Tris and Four (Thea, 2011, June 20, para. 20).
Thea also gives Roth kudos for matching Tris in ruthless since she isn’t afraid to kill off characters and has the pacing “down pat” particularly when depicting the “violent, harrowing, and delightfully sadistic” tests the Dauntless initiates must face. Here, the action reminds Thea of Scott Westerfeld’s The Uglies series, where at 16 everyone undergoes cosmetic surgery, although Thea lauds Divergent as “much better throughout . . . and better written.” Indeed, Thea so enjoyed the novel that she read all of it in a single, three hour-setting (2011, June 20, para. 21). Interestingly enough, Amazon matches prospective readers of Westerfeld’s Uglies series with Roth’s Divergent trilogy while it recommends Roth’s Divergent to readers who enjoy books like Lowry’s The Giver.
Nevertheless, Thea does have some reservations about
this “quick immerse read”, for although Divergent entertains, it doesn’t
“provoke, incite, or demand a closer look at society” while it also falls short of the great dystopian test” since it doesn’t provide the reader with
“a distorted critique of reality”. All
the same, Thea can’t wait for more Roth novels (2011, June 20, para. 22).
Books
Mentioned in Thea’s Review (Listed alphabetically by author)
Lowry, Lois. (1993). The Giver. New York:
Laurel-Leaf (Random House).
---. (2000). Gathering Blue. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
---. (2004). The Messenger. New York: Random House.
---. (2012). The Son. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Westerfeld, Scott. (2005). Uglies. New York: Simon Pulse.
---. (2006). Pretties. London: Simon & Schuster.
---. (2006). Specials. New York: Simon Pulse.
---. (2011). Extras. New York: Simon Pulse.
Viteri, Tika. (2013, November 14). The Divergent series--Veronica Roth. Reading the bricks. Retrieved from http://readingthebricks.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-divergent-series-veronica-roth.html
Viteri isn’t impressed with the contemporary Young Adult novels that are almost routinely turned into fiction, so she is only able to give the Divergent series faint praise, noting that since it is touted as being the next Hunger Games, she quips, “I suppose it is better than being the next Twilight” (2013, November 14, para. 1-2).
Having read all of the Divergent, Twilight, and Hunger Games series, Viteri argues that not one of them “stands up to some of the lesser-known Young Adult authors” like Catheryne Valente and Rainbow Rowell. To be fair, Valente aims her Fairyland series at a middle school audience as opposed to “teens”, at least according to Amazon.com, and Rowell’s novels are more likely to appeal to Young Adults who like John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. Even so, while Viteri enjoyed the first Hunger Games novel, the second lost her interest, and although she liked the second installment of Divergent more than she did Roth’s debut novel, Viteri criticizes the last installment for endlessly lecturing readers on the disadvantages of prejudging others by their genetic makeup, “Which if you paid even the least bit of attention to the History of the 20th-century, you ALREADY KNOW” (2013, November 14, para. 3).
Peer-pressured to read all of Allegiant, however, Viteri applauds “The Choice Roth Made” to kill off her heroine, but it wasn’t worth the long slog it took to get
there: “Most of what I got out of the series was that I’ like to zip-line off
of the Sears Tower, please (2013, November 14).
Books
Mentioned in Tika Viteri’s Review
(Listed
by author and series)
Collins, Suzanne. (2008). The
Hunger Games. Hunger Games Series. New
York: Scholastic.
---. (2009). Catching Fire. Hunger Games Series. New York: Scholastic.
---. (2010). Mockingjay. Hunger Games Series. New York: Scholastic.
Meyer, Stephenie. (2005). Twilight. Twilight Series. New York: Little Brown and Company.
---. (2009). New Moon. Twilight Series. New York: Little Brown and Company.
---. (2009). Eclipse. Twilight Series. New York: Little Brown and Company.
---. (2008). Breaking Dawn. Twilight Series. New York: Little Brown and Company.
Valente, Catherynne M. (2012). The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. Fairyland Series. New York: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan).
---. (2013). The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two. Fairyland Series. New York: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan).
---. (2012). The Girl Who Fell Beneath Faryland and Led the Revels There. Fairyland Series. New York: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan).
Which Divergent series character are you? (2013, November 15). Developed by Nat. All the Tests.com. Retrieved from http://www.allthetests.com/quiz30/quiz/1383438982/Which-Divergent-Series-Character-Are-You
Readers assess whether they are a Dauntless daredevil, an Erudite intellectual, a self-sacrificing introvert from the Abnegation faction, a blunt and outspoken Candor partisan, a peacemaker, from the Amity group, or an individual who could belong to various factions.
It's helpful to know a few definitions before reading dystopian fiction.
|
Some Helpful Definitions
Bildungsroman. (2013, April 23). Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/65244/bildungsroman
Dystopian Novel: While authors set Utopian novels in an ideal society, dystopian fiction “explores how political and social changes can destroy a culture (Rookie, 2014, January 14, para. 1). Well-known examples of dystopian novels include Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale (1984), Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451 (1953), Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) and George Orwell’s 1984 (1949), although several recent Young Adult novels can certainly be classified as dystopian—Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games (2009), Lois Lowry’s The Giver (1993), and, of course, Veronica Roth’s Divergent (2011).
Literally the best thing ever: Dystopian future. (2014, January 14). Rookie. Retrieved from http://www.rookiemag.com/2014/01/literally-the-best-thing-ever-dystopian-fiction/
Trilogy: A trilogy is a grouping of three literary or artistic works that follows the same characters and theme.
Trilogy. (2014). Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trilogy
 |
Four: Extending
a Trilogy
Roth, Veronica. (2014). Four: A Divergent Collection. New York: Katherine Tergen Books (Harper Collins).
While most fans rave about Veronica Roth's prequel to the Divergent trilogy, some readers have clearly had enough of Four and Tris. Rest assured, however, if these reviews are representative of Roth's audience's reactions, this brooding heart-throb is still Generation X and Y's answer to Jane Eyre's Rochester, Elvis, and James Dean. Even so, this collection of short stories, or if one prefers, a novella, doesn't uncover any new skeletons in the Eaton family's closets or delve all that deeply into Four's wounded psyche.
Erika T. (2014, November 20). Book Review Four by Veronica Roth. Teen Voice. Mission Viejo Library. Retrieved from http://mvlteenvoice.com/2014/11/20/book-review-four-by-veronica-roth/
Erika T., an eighth-grade reviewer, recommends that fans of Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy finish the series before reading Four (2014, November 20, para. 1). These short stories give the backstory behind Four's choosing of the Dauntless faction as well as his true feelings about Tris Prior (just how does a Dauntless guy ask a Dauntless girl on a date), the origin of Four's rivalry with Eric, and Four's first meeting with his mother since her disappearance from the Eaton household. (Erika T., 2014, November 20, para. 2). Erika T., most probably budgeting her time so that she reads a story a day, also finds the collection a fast read, having finished in in five days (November 20, para. 3).
Four: A Divergent Collection. (2014). Google. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=RlhZnwEACAAJ&dq=inauthor:%22Veronica+Roth%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sx-3U8_xIOO00wXq04CICQ&ved=0CEIQ6AEwCA
Google's review is short and sweet, but it really nails the essence of this collection of five e-book short stories told from Four (a.k.a. Tobias Eaton's) point-of-view: This dystopian fiction not only explores the topic of love and romance from an adolescent's perspective, but it also focuses on the nurturing of values and virtues.
Four. (2014, June 30). Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/veronica-roth/four/
This Kirkus review that Veronica Roth interweaves “sufficient information” to make the dystopian Chicago of the Divergent series “accessible to new readers” while providing fans “with the surreptitious thrill [of] digging into a taciturn hero's backstory” without adding “little of real consequence to the overall plot” (Four, 2014, June 30, para. 2). Even so, Divergent devotees can clearly trace Tobias Eaton's metamorphosis from “an angry, manipulate and vulnerable victim to a badass loner”(Four, 2014, June 30, para. 2). However, Kirkus finds that parts of this prequel “read almost like bad fan fiction (Four, 2014, June 30, para. 2).
Four: A Divergent collection/ Veronica Roth Interview. (2014, June 25). Epic Reads. YouTube. (3:26 minutes. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozLmyraeJ8c
Veronica Roth explains how she came to write this collection of short stories in this short trailer.
Michelle. (2014, December 18). Review: Four by Veronica Roth. Libris Veritas. Retrieved from http://inlibrisveritas.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/review-four-by-veronica-roth/
Michelle gives Roth's companion volume to Veronica Roth's Divergent series a 3.5 rating, noting that while Allegiant left a “sour taste” in her mouth, but Four was actually fun to read (2014, December 18, para. 5). Although Michelle explains, that most the stories have little to do with Four and Tris's romance, the short story collection is a satisfying closure to the series, “especially if you're still a little irritated” with its less than happily-ever-after ending (2014, December 18, para. 7).
Minzesheimer, Bob. (2014, July 17). Book Buzz: Veronica Roth's 'Four' adds up. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2014/07/17/four-a-divergent-collection-by-veronica-roth/12751213/
In print and e-books, Four sold 600,000 copies its first week, starting out as No. 2 on USA Today's best Selling books list (Minzesheimer, 2014, July 17 para. 5). The article also contains a link to a Veronica Roth interview:
Deutsch, Lindsay. (2013, September 4). Cool fall author: Veronica Roth. USA Today. Retrieved from
Roth explains her writing process in this video accompanying an article publicizing Allegiant.
Four: A Divergent story collection. (2014). Goodreads. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18126198-four
Reviewers either cried “enough already” or else they enjoyed the foreshadowing of the original Divergent series primarily because they couldn't get enough of Four. So far, 3,571 reviews and 31,494 ratings give Four a 4.25 rating.
Naquin, Isabel. (2014, August 4). Four by Veronica Roth review. The Book Academy. Retrieved from http://thebookacademydotnet.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/four-by-veronica-roth-review/
Categorizing Four as “almost a novella”, Isabel Naquin found Four a “fun read an interesting look into the Dauntless world However, as much as she loved Four as Roth presented him in the Divergent trilogy, Naquin was not “entirely blown away” since “Four lacked the action in the other books” (2014, August 4, para. 1 & 3). Indeed, at times, Naquin was “at times bored” with the “repetitive” stories even as she enjoyed learning more about Four and Tris's relationship as told from his perspective (2014, August 4, para. 4-5).
Vestat. Shannon. (2014, June 19). Why Veronica Roth's new book is about Four and what she missed in Divergent. Pop Sugar. Retrieved from http://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Veronica-Roth-Interview-About-Four-35023003
Vestal interviews Veronica Roth about her recent collection of short stories where in she explains that she also wrote the proto-draft of Divergent from Four's point-of-view (Vestat, 2014, June 19, para. 1). Four, in turn, started out as a prequel to the Divergent series since the first three short stories explain why Tobias Eaton decides to join the Dauntless faction and how he made himself at home there, although beginning in the fourth story, the Four prequel and the Divergent series actually “overlap” (Vestat, 2014, June 19, para. 5).
As for weighing readers' reactions to Allegiant as told in alternating voices, Roth pleads ignorance, for she explains, “To be fair, I kept myself very far away from everyone's reactions to the third book because I was having an emotional time with it too” (Vestat, 2014, June 19, para. 6). Roth, however, admits that even earlier she told the knife-throwing scene in Divergent from Four's perspective (Vestat, 2014, June 19, para. 7). In other news, the interview discloses that Insurgent, the second book in the Divergent series is in production, and Allegiant is going to be made into two separate movies (Vestat, 2014, June 19, para. 12).
No comments:
Post a Comment