[REVIEW] Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant Trilogy (Veronica Roth)

Divergent Trilogy Veronica Roth

A few weeks ago I devoured Divergent and then promptly saw the movie. Since then, I have powered my way through the 2 other books in the series. These are my thoughts on the entire story line. I’ve tried not to give too many spoilers even through I discuss all 3 books.

To read my full review on Divergent (the book and the movie) click here.

Divergent     I couldn’t put this book down. Much of the story follows Beatrice’s initiation into Dauntless, which is quite intense, as told from her point of view. It becomes evident from the start that there is a strong connection between Four and Tris which turns into a romantic story line carried throughout the entire series. There is an interesting plot twist near the end when, basically, all hell breaks loose. This book ends immediately following the chaos.

Insurgent     The story line picks up immediately where it left off. Turns out there is little time for peace before a different type of chaos ensues in an attempt to correct the original catastrophe from Divergent. I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. I felt like the author repeated Tris’ grieving thoughts over and over again to the point where they became annoying. In the first book she was so strong and sure of herself but this plot line made her seem feeble and weak. The relationship between Tris and Four is also strained for a good part of the book, which just made me frustrated. This story ends with a supposed big “ah-ha” moment but I felt the announcement was rather lack luster. It didn’t add up!

Allegiant     Since the ending of Insurgent made no sense, I picked up Allegiant looking for answers. This is the longest book in the series and it didn’t really pull me in until around Chapter 15. By the middle of the book I was just as confused as Four. At every turn it seems our characters have been given false information and, as the reader, it was getting hard to keep it all straight. I wasn’t quite sure who the good guys and the bad guys were. This book also switches narrator between chapters going back and forth between Tris and Four. While it was interesting to get into Four’s mind, I would read pages of his chapters still thinking the narrator was Tris. There was also a total flip flop between character qualities as well. In book 2, Four was strong, Tris was weak. In the final story Four is the one having trouble and Tris seems to have her heroine persona back again. By the end of the series, even though it didn’t end the way I had anticipated, most of my questions had been answered.

Overall, I would recommend the series.

For starters, they are being turned into movies, which is always good motivation. While I took issue with some of the author’s writing style, it was still a good plot line and I enjoyed the story. It has all the things you need in a series: romance, suspense, friendship, humor, and surprises! As always, once I reach the end of a series it’s hard for me to let go. I want to know more about the characters and what happens to them in the future. This trilogy was no exception. Can’t wait to see it played out on the big screen! IMDB currently shows them on schedule to be released in 2015 (Insurgent) and 2016 (Allegiant – Part 1), but both are currently in a pre-production status. IMDB is usually pretty accurate so it appears they will split the last book into 2 films, which brings up the question…. “where in the world will they make the break?”