Book Review(s) - Divergent & Insurgent ~ Veronica Roth

Yes, I am incredibly late to the party, but I have just finished reading both Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth.

I love this series so much.

And OMG I am fangirling. 

Totally insane crazy fangirling. 

Amazon.com description...For sixteen-year-old Tris, the world changes in a heartbeat when she is forced to make a terrible choice. Turning her back on her family, Tris ventures out, alone, determined to find out where she truly belongs.Shocked by the brutality of her new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her. The hardest choices may yet lie ahead….

Tris is part of a unique world, living inside a walled city where the community is divided up into 5 factions. Tris is part of Abegnation, the faction who pride themselves on selflessness, but she feels she doesn't belong. Inside, she knows she is selfish. She doesn't fit in. On Choosing Day she is tested to see which faction she falls into and surprisingly, she is told she is 'Divergent'... she fits into three factions, instead of just one. Being Divergent is not a good thing, or so she is told, and Tris is forced to keep this a secret for her own protection. The fun-and-games begin when Tris chooses, not to stay with her family in Abegnation, but to move to the brave-natured Dauntless faction.

In Dauntless, she meets Four, a mysterious and brave (and completely sexy) Dauntless trainer.  While training for the Dauntless initiation, Tris discovers a side of herself she did not know existed, all the while falling for a guy she barely knows. 

There are a myriad of reasons of why this book is amazing, and I won't go into them all, but the one thing that grabbed me from the first page was the point of view (POV) the story was told from. The voice of the main character Tris, flows through the page and hits you smack bang between the eyes, allowing you to ride right along with her. Tris is tough and persevering and stubborn and in some ways, clueless to the world. The romance between her and Four is weaved in-and-out of the first 3/4 of the book and I found myself reading through the book at a rapid pace to find out if they end up together. There is lots and lots of action to keep you enthralled and the ending makes for such good reading that the story was flowing through my mind like a movie. And on that note...

Cannot wait for the movie which is due out in theatres in March 2014! 

Description from Amazon.com...
I have done bad things. I can’t take them back, and they are part of who I am.
Tris has survived a brutal attack on her former home and family. But she has paid a terrible price. Wracked by grief and guilt, she becomes ever more reckless as she struggles to accept her new future.
Yet if Tris wants to uncover the truth about her world, she must be stronger than ever… because more shocking choices and sacrifices lie ahead.

The second book in the trilogy, Insurgent, picks up right where Divergent left off. Tris and Four are on the run from their faction leaders and the (bitchy evil so-and-so) Erudite leader Jeanine Mathews, and are seeking refuge with Amity. Tris is reeling from killing one of her Dauntless friends in self-defence (I won't tell you who) and the ever-evil Jeanine is looking for them. Tris and Four side with the factionless who are seeking to unseat Erudite and create a factionless society... but Tris has her reservations, and ends up having to choose between joining Four, or going against him and siding with his father and long-standing enemy, Marcus.

The book deals with grief and loss in a very internal way, and you feel what Tris is digesting as she tries to deal with the things she has done and what she has lost. The relationship between Four and Tris is rocky as Tris becomes increasingly reckless and selfish, trying to find herself again in a world that has completely changed from what she once knew. The book ends on a cliffhanger and I found myself shouting out 'NO!' and instantly jumping online to see when the next one comes out.

And on that note.....

Cannot wait for the third and final book, Allegiant, which is due out on 22nd October 2013!!