Divergent, by Veronica Roth

Divergent, by Veronica Roth is a debut from the author, the beginning of a trilogy and all-in-all a great dystopian.  Many have said it is similar to the Hunger Games and I see that in the violence, but that's about it.  This is a new and unique story and I loved reading it.  The main character is a girl named Beatrice and she lives in the Abnegation district which is the district that values selflessness above all else.  Soon the time will come when she takes her aptitude test and finds out what district she would be best suited for before making the final decision herself.  Unfortunately the test results are inconclusive and reveal that she is in fact, Divergent.  Beatrice doesn't know what that means, but she is quickly warned to never speak of it and to hide that information at all costs, because it's dangerous.  So, she tries to put the mysterious word out of her mind as she makes the decision to join the Dauntless faction.  Their core value is bravery and there are a lot of tests in the initiation designed to showcase the applicant's courage or lack thereof.  She knows she has to do well or she risks being rejected by the Dauntless and forced to spend her life with the factionless, poor and lonely.  Jumping off a moving train or willingly entering a fight with a much stronger boy are easy to do, but betraying her family and writing them off proves much more difficult for Beatrice.  Even with her new version of her name, Tris, there is still some of her old self left inside.  She might be right at home with the Dauntless, but she can't forget her Abnegation heritage.  This book follows her life as she proceeds through the testing, gets to know the Dauntless, reconciles her old life and even as the dangers of being Divergent dance around her.  I really loved this book and my only regret is that I read it so soon after its release, because that means I have the longest possible amount of time to wait for the sequel.  Thankfully it didn't end on a cliffhanger like some books do, but I am still eager to continue the tale.  I would recommend this book to any fans of dystopians, action, fighting, violence, coming-of-age, stories about personal growth or fans of YA in general, because it was a great read and most people would be able to enjoy it I think.

Favorite things:  the strength of Tris as she endures more than most could, the developing romance which was back-and-forth and played a secondary role to all the action in this book, the characters (some so easy to love and others so easy to hate), the description of the various locations that helped me "see" everything clearly in my mind, the interesting element of the simulation serums which gave this book a unique layer of danger, the ethical questions that easily parallel many aspects of real life and the atmosphere of the whole book.

Criticisms:  I forget who said it, but there was a quote that says perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away and I think the author really could've benefited from taking that idea to heart, because the word "and" was used far too much and there were several unnecessary sentences as well, but other than that, I have no complaints.

Overall:  5 out of 5 stars!  Definitely different than the Hunger Games, but similar enough to be enjoyed by fans of that series.