INSURGENT by Veronica Roth
INSURGENT is the much-anticipated sequel to Veronica Roth’s bestselling book DIVERGENT. If you haven’t read Divergent yet, stop reading because this review will totally spoil the first book for you. And also, why haven’t you read Divergent yet? I would like you to rectify that immediately.
I tried to check this out at my local library because enjoy it that they will give me books for free but the wait list was three months long. What?! So I used my swagbucks to buy it on Amazon. And y’all. It is so good.
I was nervous because a lot of the time the second in a series just can’t live up the first. Like, the first book of The Hunger Games was fantastic and the second book never quite made it to that level. And let’s not even talk about the third book or I’ll throw this cream soda at the screen. But Insurgent? It is worthy of it’s #1 New York Times status.
Like it’s predecessor, Insurgent is a dystopian YA fiction novel. Here is an excerpt from the book description:
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 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.
There is a bit more exposition in this book but it doesn’t feel like filler. I worried that the plot might feel recycled but it is surprisingly fresh and moving in a different direction than I expected. There were a few twists that literally made me gasp; one that I’m still not quite over and unsure how they will resolve in the next book if they return to it. And the ending? Total cliffhanger. I expected there to be a cliffhanger but I did not expect what happened.
Do you know what I love most about this book? I love Tris. I love that she is the anti-Bella Swan here. That she is a sixteen year old girl who does not hold herself captive to her love story. There is so much at stake for her and she doesn’t risk everything to be with a boy. She risks everything for so much more than that. It’s a better love story because of this, because she is haunted by all of her choices. She is equal parts both strong and suffering. For a portion of the book I thought to myself “Self, why is Tris being such a witch with a capital B? I dislike this.” But the unfolding of her story redeemed those moments for me.
Also, I have a total book-crush on Four. You too, right? Right?
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