Monday, May 16, 2011

Divergent by Veronica Roth

“One choice can transform you.”

In dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions. Each faction strives to live by a particular virtue: Abnegation – selflessness, Amity – peaceful, Candor – honest, Dauntless – fearless and Erudite – intelligence. All sixteen-year-olds are given an aptitude test that tells them which faction they belong with. On a designated day of each year, a Choosing ceremony is held where the teens decide which faction to devote the rest of their lives to.
For Beatrice Prior, she has lived with her family as Abnegation for her sixteen years. Her brother Caleb is less than a year older and both take the aptitude test the same day. When Beatrice finishes her test, her examiner is a bit worried. Beatrice’s results were inconclusive and only two factions were outright eliminated. She displayed “equal aptitude for Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite.” People with this result are known as “Divergent”. Her examiner, Tori, warns her to never share her test results as divergence is extremely dangerous. Tori sends her home early because she has a lot of thinking to do. If Beatrice chooses Abnegation, she will stay with her family. By joining a different faction, Beatrice will not see her family again. On a roller coaster ride of emotions at the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice shocks everyone, including herself, by choosing to become Dauntless.
Renaming herself Tris as she starts the highly competitive initiation process, Beatrice struggles to leave behind the Abnegation values of selflessness and forgiveness. She has trouble determining who her real friends are and embarks on a romance with one of her trainers, Four, who looks familiar. As she attempts to deal with her fears about leaving her family and her feelings for Four, Four discovers her secret of being Divergent. He lets her know that if her true result is discovered, it would mean her death.
But when Tris slowly realizes that something is going on not only within her chosen faction but with society as a whole, she finds being Divergent may save those she loves. Journey with Tris as she begins to discover not only who she is but those she loves as secrets and true identities are revealed. If you loved Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, Beatrice Prior will endear you to her as she begins her quest against society.

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