"Insurgent" - Review

Funny story for this one. When Divergent came out in theaters, I saw the film cover softback in my local market and decided to pick it up. Then I waited.  And waited… And waited… Finally, the Insurgent film was set to release in a week and I still hadn't seen the film cover soft back. I was in my market, holding the standard art covered done, debating. I fought with myself and ultimately decided I could be patient a little longer. I put the book back. The next day, yes I spend a lot of time at the market, I looked again. Behold! The cover I wanted was there! I snatched it up and read it that night. [goodreads review]

| Amazon | B&N |
Divergent Review

Passionately written and it shows!
#YA #Fantasy #PostApocalyptic #BooktoFilm

3 Stars
Series:  Book 2: Divergent
Characters: Tris & Tobias (Four)
Setting: Alternate Universe
Mature Themes: PTSD, violence, and minor sexual topics.

Recommendation: If you read the first book, yes, this one is worth reading and I will be continuing to the third one as well. Fan of Harry Potter and that age range of kids can save the world will enjoy this, and I’d imagine the same goes for fans of The Hunger Games, though I’ve not read that series myself.

The world has gone crazy around Tris and Tobias. Factions have turned against one another, the factionless are working together, and their allies look like enemies and their enemies become friends. But even more difficult still, all of this happens while Tris is battling not just the demons around her, but her own demons within. 

Tris is written beautifully. She's full of difficult decisions, angsty teen drama (yup, try to remember this character is only sixteen), and more PTSD than she can handle. All of Roth's hard work and research into PTSD was well worth it because as readers we were pulled along on Tris’ fear of guns, lies to those closest to her, and skittish behavior. Tobias of course tries to be there to help her, but her destructive behavior finds him pulling away for self preservation reasons.  Through all of the drama the two provide a solid story and compelling plot.

Overall the second book didn’t wow me like the first.  Divergent had an innocence to it and a plot surprise that was more intriguing to me that Insurgent's.  That’s not to say Insurgent wasn’t a good book, it was fantastic, the writing, the descriptions, the drama, all great. But what made Divergent not just any other post-apocalyptic novel were the factions, and in Insurgent they were almost non existent, and yes, I know that’s the point.