Suzanne Collins' famed and acclaimed series The Hunger Games has gotten a lot of publicity lately. But now that you've read the books and watched the movie, all you can do is wait until next year for the second big screen adaptation to come out. So what will you do in the meantime? I've got a couple of reading suggestions. First off, Divergent.
Divergent is twenty-something Veronica Roth's first novel, and it is a big one. It's plot is very similar to The Hunger Games, but, in my not so humble opinion, it is much better. Instead of districts there are factions, and instead of the Games there is a Choosing Ceremony.
\\ About the Book \\ In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.Not unlike The Hunger Games, Divergent is in first-person present tense, the main character is a sixteen-year-old girl, and the setting is in a dystopian, futuristic society. I like Roth's descriptions and dialogue better than Collins', and I thought the whole plot was much more applicable. Divergent's biggest theme is facing your fears, and the second, much like The Hunger Games, is accepting who you are and learning how to best use your strengths and weaknesses in whatever situation you are faced with.
Though Divergent has about the same amount of violence as The Hunger Games, the romance is, unfortunately for me (and us all), more pronounced. There are a couple of kissing scenes that go unnecessarily far, and sex is discussed in a couple of places (when I say discussed I mean mentioned, nothing is explicit) but never actually happens (though the final consensus is someday, making me a little concerned about what the next books in the series hold).
For this reason I would say that Divergent is more appropriate for the sixteen and older crowd, though I'm not even sure I would have/should have read it at sixteen. Honestly, the content here is not more (actually much less) than most movies and TV shows today, so it really just depends on your level of comfort and/or convictions.
Personally, it bothers me greatly that authors feel the need to add these situations (making it seem normal or appropriate), especially when marketing to young audiences, but I liked the story itself so much that I decided to overlook these instances of romantic overload.
I always try to look at romance in a book and decide to what level it is necessary. Some of the romance in Divergent seems necessary (or justifiable, maybe) to the growth of Tris' character, but to me most of the romance could have been cut out and the book would have been just as good (if not better).
Still on romance, Tris' relationship with the-boy-who-will-remain-nameless is a lot better than Katniss' relationship with Peeta. I have to say it. Besides the excessive kissing, which both books possess, Tris and him aren't pretending, unlike Katniss' maybe I like him, maybe I don't confusion with Peeta. This is yet another reason why I like Divergent more.
Unfortunately, there are a few uses of h--- and g-- as well.
Oddly, I preferred Collins' decision to leave out faith and God entirely as opposed to Roth's decision to add a little of God here and there (a very little). In Divergent there are only a couple times when God is mentioned, once at the dinner table and once when a character believes death is imminent. If I remember correctly there is also a brief saying of "fear God alone," which isn't expanded on at all (if Roth really wanted to bring in God, this would have been a good spot). Those instances seemed awkward to me, just because no one really takes into consideration God or a higher power at all until these choice scenes. They could have been edited out, really.
Also, I liked that Tris' parents are more involved than Katniss' mother. For the most part Tris is on her own, but there are several choice scenes between her and her mother and father that are really touching. They aren't a perfect family, but they are still a family, and I like that Roth chose to utilize both parents in important ways.
Comparing Tris and Katniss (yes, I'm going there), Tris has my vote. Her personality is more likable and her growth is more noticeable. She has goals for herself, goals of the person she wants to be, and she does whatever she is able to reach those goals. She doesn't let circumstances get the best of her, and she doesn't give in. The added interest of the factions and what they stand for give her reason to examine herself and decide where she fits, and her ultimate realization shows huge strength in her character. I enjoyed Tris' journey more than I did Katniss', and I felt less stressed reading Divergent.
(Is anyone else giving a little hmmm... at the similarity between Tris and Katniss?)
So, if you are a fan of The Hunger Games series I am sure you will like Divergent, as long as you are okay with the extra romance. I really enjoyed the book though; it took me all of two days to read it. The second book Insurgent has just come out, and the third is in the works. And once you finish Divergent, you can check out a scene from the book that Roth wrote from a different character's perspective. But wait until you have finished the book, or the scene won't make sense.
\\ In Case You Were Wondering \\\\ About the Author \\ Veronica Roth is only 23, so her bio will be short. She’s from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote Divergent and Insurgent. The third and final book in The Divergent Trilogy, which doesn't have a title yet, will come out in Fall 2013. In the meantime she will spend endless hours browsing Wikipedia in her pajamas as she eats corn flakes. (Or some other kind of bland breakfast cereal.)
Title: Divergent (Book One in The Divergent Trilogy)
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
