Insurgent

Brandi Meineke, Booksource Collection Development Specialist

5/7/2012 1:42:24 PM
Insurgent

By Veronica Roth



I have been looking forward to this novel for a while. My anticipation did not go unrewarded. So many questions from the first novel are answered, not always in ways I expected. Before I go any further, I think I must recommend that this series be read in order. Veronica Roth does not waste her pages describing events that took place in Divergent. She does throw in some helpful clues here and there to remind readers of minor events that illustrate the relationships. Some moments of loss would not have been nearly so impactful without these little reminders.

Dystopian Chicago and the factions that inhabit it are explored far more in depth. When I finished Divergent I just kept wondering more about Amity, Candor, and the Factionless. My curiosity has been satisfied in those regards, but now is hungry for so much more. What is the rest of the world like? What’s outside the city gates? Why/how was all this faction dogma set up? Can Tris and Four really do anything to make a significant difference?

I would like to point out that not one of these questions about was about romance. In so many YA books the questions seem to be more like: “Edward or Jacob?/Gale or Peeta?” Tobias (Four) and Tris seem to have one of the healthiest and most normal relationships I have read in YA for a long time. They like each other and don’t worry that some good-looking stranger is going to steal the other one away. But they do disagree, and they do fight. Each one is trying to do what they know is best for the world, unfortunately their ideas are somewhat in conflict. Unlike Bella Swan, Tris Prior can defy the man she loves. She feels soul-crushing guilt that her decision may make the relationship end, but when she weighs it against the numerous innocent deaths she can prevent; she knows what she has to do. I won’t give away too many spoilers here, so I will just say that Tris and Four seem like a genuine couple with all the joys and heartache that being new couple entails.

I am anxiously awaiting the next/last book in this trilogy. I sincerely hope that Veronica Roth keeps writing. I know she has several loyal readers amongst my friends and family. If you liked Divergent, then Insurgent is going to be hard to put down. If you haven’t read Divergent, then do so, and I dare you to try to not read Insurgent. I, for one, am not Dauntless or Selfless enough to deny myself the Erudite and Candid pleasure of it.