The Divergent trilogy is a series of young adult science fiction novels written by the American novelist, Veronica Roth, taking place in an apocalyptic dystopian Chicago.
Divergent was first published in 2011. Insurgent, was published in 2012. Allegiant, the final novel, was published in 2013. The society of the trilogy defines its citizens by their social and personality-related affiliation with five different factions. Factions remove the threat of anyone exercising independent will and threatening the population’s safety. The factions are societal divisions that classify citizens based on their aptitudes and values. The five factions are Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), Erudite (the intelligent), Abnegation (the selfless), and Candor (the honest). Within the novel, on a specific day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select a faction. They then must devote the rest of their lives to such after taking a placement test.
The genres for the Divergent trilogy are adventure, science fiction, dystopian, and young adult fiction. When I had first read the books, I was in about seventh or eighth grade. Since then, I’ve reread the novels multiple times and adore them just as much. The first book of the series, Divergent, is by far, the best of the three. However, as the trilogy goes on, the series begins to lag and just not be as good.
As the story continued, the plot remained intriguing, but the main character began to become a nuisance. By all the suspense that the series built up, the ending was extremely disappointing. However, no matter what one’s opinion is on how good they are, once you start reading there’s no stop until the end. Both Divergent and Insurgent end with major cliffhangers, practically forcing you to continue going until the very end of the trilogy in Allegiant.
Despite it’s flaws, I cannot emphasize enough on how much I recommend the Divergent series to people. I was young when I first read it so maybe around middle school aged kids would enjoy it. Don’t let age stop you though. However, there was also a film adaption of the Divergent trilogy as well. Although I may recommend the novels, I cannot say the same for the movies. They completely misportray the series and in my opinion aren’t worth the time.
