Book View: Insurgent

2012-05-18T00:01:00.003-05:00

Insurgent (Divergent, #2)

by Veronica Roth

Released: May 1st 2012

Publisher: HarperTeen

Hardcover: 525 pages

Links:

Goodreads / Divergent Review

* Review and Summary may contain spoilers from the previous book of the series.
Read at your own risk *

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

Short and Sweet:
Days, weeks even, prior to the book's release, it seemed that Insurgent was the only book many were talking about. Once the reviews started pouring out, all, it seemed, that anyone would say is how it was so amazing, how it was so much better than the first book. While I do not disagree on how amazing it was, I would be hard pressed to say that I enjoyed Insurgent more so than Divergent.

Insurgent picks up shorts after the events of Divergent. The battle is still being fought with uncertainty around every corner. The beginning of this book seemed incredibly slow to me. Yes, there was action with the battle. But plot wise, it seemed like it took forever for the next piece of the puzzle to reveal itself. In contrast, the later half of the book was an extreme roller-coaster.

Final Verdict:
It is hard to say that I did not 100% LOVE Insurgent... I liked (a lot), but the consistency of the book was a bit hard to swallow. Slow beginning. Really fast ending. And I have no clue where to start with Tris and Four's relationship. It was like a soap opera. I never thought that Four had it in him to act the way he did sometimes in this book. I wanted to punch him. And even Tris' motives sometimes were very questionable. It almost felt like these characters have evolved into characters that are unfamiliar. Like I am only now seeing them for the first time. But despite any misgivings that I have, the added element in the later after of the book should definitely add something fresh and exciting for the next book, so I am still on board with this series.

The Book Monsters

Book View: Insurgent