DIVERGENT!

This book is unreal! I became so addicted to it and I just couldn't put it down! I'm sure you have heard of it since it has been made into a film which will be released in March. The trailer of the movie looks amazing, I just hope that it does do justice to the book.

You can watch the trailer here

But anyway, this is a blog about books so lets get back to it... Divergent is a type of distopian novel, set in a world where factions, or groups, exist. There are five groups which all value certain personality traits: Amity values kindness, Candor values truth, Dauntless values bravery, Abnegation values selflessness and Erudite values intelligence. On their 16th birthday each child must sit a test to determine which faction they are most suited for and then they must choose to either leave the faction they grew up in, or to stay. The protagonist, Beatrice Prior, is different however. She doesn't just have an affinity for one faction, she is potentiall suited for three. In this dystopian world, such results are rare. People are afraid of those who are divergent and so Beatrice must keep her test results a secret and choose one faction to join. However when war breaks out amongst the factions, it is clear that Beatrice's divergence may have more of an impact in society than she originally thought...

I have to say that I loved Beatrice. She is such a stong female character but she also has a lot of flaws, which makes her even more likable. The novel focusses on Beatrice's development from being a shy, quiet girl into a strong, calculated young lady. That's why I enjoyed the book so much; it never stops being an adventure from page one! There are also a lot of surprises within the plot, things that turn out to be false when you believed them to be true. This adds to the excitement of the novel as a whole. I think that Beatrice has to be one of my favourite female protagonists. I love how she is inteligent and brave and selfless and strong all at the same time, which I guess is the whole point since she is divergent and does not have an affinity for only one character trait. Since the novel is written in first person, from Beatrice's point of view, it is really exciting because we as readers are not able to see the whole picture, we only know what Beatrice knows. It also allows the readers to become emotionally attached to Beatrice because she confides in us and we are able to see how she truly feels and thinks. She can hide things from the other characters but she can't hide them from us.

Here's a quote that a dear friend sent me that I feel really sums up my love for Beatrice:
"When reading, we don't fall in love with the characters' apprearance. We fall in love with their words, their thoughts and their hearts. We fall in love with their souls."

Readers are inspired and encouraged by the characters that they read about in novels and I think that Beatrice definately has the abilty to inspire and encourage young ladies (and gentlemen too of course) out there with the certain positive character traits that she has :)

Within the plot there is also some romance elements, which brings a nice relief to all the violence that goes on. But even though this didn't play a major role in the plot, I am worried that in the next two books their relationship will become more of a focus and it might turn out to be a little Twilight-esque. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

The novel ended on a juicy cliffhanger and I really can't wait to see what the world of Divergent has in store for our heroine. I just hope that the rest of the trilogy is as good as beginning was :)

You can get Divergent from Amazon by following this link