Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent, by Veronica Roth. Katherine Tegan Books (HarperCollins), 2011, 487 pages.

Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15

Recommended for: Ages 15-18 and up

Bottom Line: Divergent is a promising beginning to a YA dystopian series that explores how far human nature can be changed.

With the publication of Mockingjay, last book in the Hunger Games trilogy, speculation naturally turned to what the next Big Dystopia series would be.  Here it is.  Two things about the author always make the press kit: one, she’s only twenty-two.  Two, she’s a professing Christian.  Veronica Roth graduated only last year from Northwestern University with a degree in creative writing.  Her manuscript was written between exams, classes, terms, relationships, and all the angst of young-adulthood, and for that alone Divergent is a notable achievement.

Beatrice Prior lives in a city once known as Chicago.  The place would not be recognizable except for iconic landmarks like the Sears Tower (now called the Hub), or the Marsh (once Lake Michigan), because we’re unspecified years into the future, with a completely different social structure.  After the Great Peace (presumably after a Great War), society was reorganized into factions, each with its controlling value, who are to balance and serve each other.  Beatrice and her brother Caleb are getting ready for the annual Choosing Ceremony, where 16-year-olds will choose which of the five they feel most qualified to join: Abnegation (self-sacrifice), Amity (kindness), Erudite (intelligence), Candor (honesty), and Dauntless (courage).

Beatrice and Caleb were born in Abnegation, and all they know is humility and service.  There is one mirror in my house.  It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs.  Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair.  Before choosing, they take an aptitude test to help them determine which of the factions best suits them.  Here the trouble starts, for Beatrice’s test results are “inconclusive”–i.e., Divergent.  This is extremely rare, and so suspect that she is advised to tell nobody.  It would no doubt be safest for her to remain in Abnegation, but when the time comes to choose, she goes with Dauntless.  Her brother, just as surprisingly, picks Erudite.

It’s soon clear that Candors are not entirely honest, Dauntless bravado is often a disguise for cowardice or pride, and Erudites use their intelligence selfishly—even Abnegation twists selflessness to its own ends.  Humanity is just not that easy to classify and the Great Peace has failed to create peace within.  In fact, war—the very thing the faction system was supposed to prevent—is hovering on the horizon, and Beatrice (now calling herself Tris) finds her most crucial choices are still ahead of her.  We don’t get to this point until almost 4/5ths of the way through, and the outset of hostilities feels a little hackneyed and rushed.  The previous 400 pages are mostly world-building, conflict-positioning, and character-shaping.  A Christian worldview is hinted at–for instance when Tris recognizes the depravity (her word) in her faction and yet sees an ideal worth restoring.  Or when she sees the words Fear God alone” on the wall of a certain young man’s room.  Or toward the end, when her mother says, “Human beings as a whole can’t be good for long before the bad creeps back and poisons us again.”  These are clues to a certain mindset.  I’m interested in seeing where it goes from here.*

Also by this author: Insurgent and Allegiant.

Cautions: Language (small amount of mild profanity), Violence (not overly graphic), Sensuality (PG-rated love scenes)

Overall Rating: 4 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 4
• Artistic value: 4

*Update: unfortunately, the series did not live up to its promise, in our opinion. Please see Hayley’s review of Allegiant, linked above.

Categories: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Popular, Movie Tie-in, Character Values

speculative fiction, dystopia, young adult, YA, courage, honesty, Reading Level: Young adult ages 12-15, Maturity Level: 6 (ages 15-18) and up, Divergent, Veronica Roth

Previous thoughts on the dystopia craze start here.   Paranormal romance is a bit passe, but still going strong; read about it here.  And don’t miss Emily’s search for Christ in literature, beginning here.