My Thoughts on the Divergent Trilogy

Remember how in my Slippery Time post, I mentioned that I needed to read Allegiant but I was too scared to? The day after I wrote that post, I decided that it was time to stop being scared of what I thought was going to happen in it. It was time to start reading it.

Surprise: I couldn't put it down and finished it that same night.

Since I posted so enthusiastically about the first book, I decided that I should follow up with my thoughts on the whole trilogy. I will make sure to keep it as spoiler-free as possible for those of you who haven't read it yet.

Divergent (1st book): I said before that this is my new favorite dystopian book, and I'll say that again now. I love Tris and Four, and the faction system is really interesting. The story is intense and exciting, but it's not nonstop action. There are deep parts that really make you think. Also, while they aren't perfect, many of the characters do display traits worth imitating. The ending is bittersweet, yes, but it's not depressing. Divergent is also fairly clean. As one might expect, there is fighting and some intense scenes, it isn't particularly descriptive. And while romance does play a part, it doesn't go beyond (a good bit of) kissing.

Insurgent (2nd book): I didn't like Insurgent as much as I liked Divergent. It's still a good book. It's even more exciting than Divergent, especially towards the end. The last chapter or two, in particular, caught me completely off-guard (in a good way). And like the previous book, there are some aspects of it that make you think. However, several of the main characters' make choices that made me respect them a little less. Also, while the amount of violence remains the same, there is one romantic scene that made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

Allegiant (3rd book): Wow. Allegiant was not at all what I expected, but that's a good thing. I can't really say much because of the whole spoiler thing, but the explanations for some of the questions I'd had were finally answered and those answers were much more interesting than anything I expected. One other thing I liked (though a lot of others seem dislike) is getting Four's view as well as Tris's. While it did throw me off occasionally when the POV switched and I didn't notice, I think that the story wouldn't have been as good if we'd just had Tris's POV.

Allegiant is also, in my opinion, the most thought-provoking book in the trilogy. Again, I can't give away spoilers, but one of the main conflicts in the book seemed to be the questions of 'How far are you willing to go for what you think is right?' and 'How far is too far?' The answers to those questions, particularly the first one, can be frightening.

I was happy to find that the characters seem to have learned from their mistakes in Insurgent and, as in Divergent, make choices that are (mostly) worth imitating. Though they're not perfect, they're characters you can feel good about liking, especially when you consider how they willingly risk their lives to protect each other and stand for what they believe is right.

Allegiant is not perfect. As in Insurgent, there's one romantic scene that I could've done without, and Tris and Four seem to spend a lot of time kissing. There's one or two instances of bad words. However, the book does remain mostly clean.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend the Divergent trilogy to older teens. Despite some flaws, the books are well-written, exciting, and certainly worth reading.

If you've already read the trilogy, or are currently reading it, I'd like to hear what your thoughts. Feel free to comment, but please mark any spoilers so people who haven't read it yet don't read something they don't want to know yet. Thanks!

Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  
Note: This was supposed to be published back on Wednesday or so. I have no clue what went wrong. Oh well.