Book Series Review – The Divergent Trilogy

The Divergent Trilogy is a young adult series written by American author, Veronica Roth. The series shows a world ravaged by war and death; the surviving civilisation has been divided into 5 factions; abnegation, dauntless, erudite, candor & amity. Beatrice (Tris) Prior discovers she is Divergent, someone who fits more than one faction, forcing her to live a life of secrecy and avoid being killed by the leaders of Erudite & Dauntless.

What did I think?

Overall, I actually enjoyed reading the trilogy; they were interesting to read and the plot was well developed across the three books. With each book more was revealed about this war ravaged world, keeping me constantly wanting to know what was going to happen next. There were even moments when I was pleasently surprised by some of the series’ big revelations.

This one is a bit tricky, but despite the glaringly obvious lack of realism from it, I actually really enjoyed the premises of the book. There was something kind of unique about how society would try and get itself back together again. Trying not reveal to much, the premises also unfolds into something a lot bigger than is presented from the beginning.

Where did it fall flat?

As much as I enjoyed reading these books, there were notable flaws that stopped me from entirely loving the series. The most glaringly obvious is the premises; as much as it is interesting and offers something slightly different to what i’ve read before, I could just never get over the fact that it would never be possible. People just don’t work like that and can’t fit themselves into one personality type without at least showing other traits from the other factions.

Then there was the characters, predominantly Tris. Now i’m biased towards my annoyance with main characters as i’ve never found myself like protagonists. However, there were multiple moments when Tris went from being naive to simply just whiny, complaining so much about everything, and sometimes getting annoyed with her crush even during life/death situations. It’s a cliche in young adult novels I can never get over, the characters always value romance at the most inappropriate times.

Which book was the best?

Now, each book is great at propelling the story forward, maintaining the compelling plot as more is revealed. However, for me I would always say that the first in this series ‘Divergent’, is by far the better of the three. Of course being the starting point of the series it makes it easier to enjoy the story as well as finding excitement in learning about the characters, it still for me was the more enjoyable to read in the series.

Would I recommend this?

I actually would entirely recommend this series. It is the perfect series for lovers of young adult fans. It is also one of the more well-known series which I think is the perfect started point for those wanting to try out a new genre. It offers everything you’ll ever get from any young adult stories, while also showcasing an interesting and compelling story.

At some points I may do a review of each book individually, however I wanted to start with the whole series.