As Tris, the main character of the novel Insurgent, was led through a long hallway to meet her death all you could do was hope she would survive and save her people. Insurgent, the second book in the Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth, was good but not as good as the first book because she changed the characters too much from who they were. Despite these changes the novel is still action-packed and suspenseful and there is never never left a dull moment.
It’s setting is futuristic world where everyone is divided into five factions. Candor the truthful, Dauntless the brave, Erudite the intelligent, Abnegation the selfless, and Amity the peaceful. If they don’t fit into these categories they’re factionless or outcasts.The main character, Beatrice (Tris) Prior is from Abnegation, she is not one faction but three making her divergent which is the worst thing that can happen in their life style. After the traditional ceremony where one chooses which faction they will be a part of, Tris chooses Dauntless where she meets and falls in love with Four, her mentor in the faction.
A war sparks in the first novel and continues to Insurgent, causing conflicts between the two main characters, Tris and Four. Tris changes as a character and instead of thinking things through rationally, she is constantly making unintelligent mistakes and risking her life for no reason, which is so different from her actions in book one. War changes people and how they act, but she changed so much it was bizarre. She never really thought her actions through and she didn’t understand that when she risked her life, it would affect others around her.
Insurgent is great for all genders unless you’re the type of guy who doesn’t like to read from a girl’s perspective. Only people ninth grade and above should read this novel, as those younger than this age will have a hard time understanding the emotions the characters experience, like love or conflicts within a family. The book requires some patience because its 525 pages long so if you can’t make it through a long book this isn’t for you. If you liked the Hunger Games a lot you’ll like this book because it has the same type of action and it has romance.
Veronica Roth has a unique writing style. She makes things interesting and adventurous. She is mostly serious throughout her novels but every once in awhile she adds some comedy that is hilarious. Four didn’t change much throughout this novel. He just grew as a character and you saw the sensitive side to him. But because of Tris’s need for change Four and Tris are constantly fighting throughout the book and Four tries to understand her but is struggling to do so. He still risks his life to show Tris that he still loves her no matter what and that he wants her to change.
The book abruptly ended with a cliffhanger. It would have been fine if the next one was coming out in a month but the final book to the trilogy isn’t coming out until fall. Overall the book was really enthralling because of the action and suspense kept you on edge, since when the characters weren’t fighting with weapons, their conversations were filled with plot twists and character revelations.
by ARIELLA APPLEBY
