Lisa Reviews: Veronica Roth's - "Insurgent"
There is no need to even speak about the cover, because all three of them look AHH-mazing!
I purchased Insurgent before I even started reading Divergent, and I’m really glad I did. Why? Because I was able to read it right away, instead of running out to the store in the middle of the night, just to get my hands on a copy! (I would recommend this for anyone!)
Before I begin to review Insurgent, I just want to explain the main reason I loved Divergent. Tris spent her entire life putting other people in front of her, she avoided eye contact, never saw herself in a mirror, and tried to only speak when spoken to. But when it was finally her turn to make a decision, and her turn to change her life, she did. COMPLETELY. She became something she never was before; strong. The character development in Divergent, through Tris, is what pulled me in. And it was also what forced me to continue the series.
Insurgent takes off exactly where Divergent ended; some reviews I read really liked this, but some also thought this was just ridiculous. I guess that just depends when you read the first book. I understand that if you read Divergent days after it released, and then read Insurgent when it was finally released, it would be hard to remember all the characters, everything that happened, and of course the little details. But if you read the two books within months of each other like I did, it wouldn’t be such a big problem.
Erudite is trying to take over the world by injecting the Dauntless with a mind control serum. The Dauntless faction is split into two, the Traitors and the now Outcasts, who are teaming up with the Factionless, who are beginning a rebellion. Erudite are hunting down all citizens that are Divergent, because for some reason or another, the serum doesn’t work on them.
Tris is struggling with both the loss of her parents, and the guilt of killing her friend while he was under the mind control serum. Unsure of what to do, or where to go, Tris, Four, Caleb and a few Abnegation head to Amity, seeking protection, shelter and help. The world is in complete chaos, but she knows she can trust Four; he is her light in all this dark. With violence rising and alliances forming, the five factions Tris has grown up with, do not exist anymore. And with so much going on, and different sides of the dilemma the two are forced to pick sides, even if they might not be the same ones…(ooohh, doesn’t that make you want to read the book?)
So on my blog Turning Pages, I discussed why I like Divergent better than I did Insurgent. And these are the points I made:
1. Tris, her guilt, and her inability to shoot a gun. In Divergent, I absolutely fell in love with Tris; she was that kick ass girl that I look for in any action book I read. I thought it was cool that she didn’t know who she was, and was always told to be quiet when she was Abnegation. But when she decided to go into Dauntless, she showed her true side; her badassness, and her bravery! I loved everything about her. She made smart moves, played the game safe when needed, but also wasn’t afraid be risky. But she wasn’t anything like that in Insurgent… I understand that she lost a lot in the first book (her parents, and her friend), but the world is in complete shambles, she needed to get her head in the game. I was so frustrated when I read that she couldn’t even hold a gun, nor shot it, when she was in a life and death situation… you’ve got to be kidding me!? Shoot the dang thing! She spent the entire first book, becoming Dauntless, and now this??
2. Four..what a jerk? Okay this one wasn’t as bad as number one, but since when was he so mean? I loved that he was this tough guy, and that he was sweet to Tris. But in this second book, he just isn’t like that.
3. Romance? Action? I have to admit I love romance books, and if you’ve been with Turning Pages for a while you know that all too well! But I do like different genres. I came to love Divergent for the action, and adventure, not because of the romance. I was expecting the same thing from Insurgent. Yes, it’s true, there is some romance in Divergent between Tris and Four, but that isn’t “in your face”, its in the background. But Insurgent focused too much on the couple, and not enough on the action.. .I guess the romance aspect in this book wasn’t what I was expecting.
The things I liked about the book:
1. Caleb! Uhh I don’t want to further explain this one, but definitively liked this twist in the story!!
2. The ending! Ughh another one I can’t give away!
3. Four..what a jerk! Okay I know I put this one in my dislikes, but I also liked it in a strange way, and this goes along with number one in my dislikes. Throughout Divergent I liked that Tris was smart, and made smart moves. In Insurgent she doesn’t do that. She almost reminded me of one of those girls who just acts dumb and does dumb things to get attention. Tris making these idiotic moves, like not using a gun, wasn’t the Tris I got to know in the first book. And that’s why I liked Four. Though he was rude and a bit of a jerk about it, he called Tris out on her stupidity. Four made sense, but he was just a bit mean about expressing it, but I felt that Tris really needed that a few times throughout the story; a reality check!
I already reviewed (or ranted) about these points on my own blog, and decided just to incorporate them into this review as well. I don’t think I can explain them any other way.
So yes! I know, I liked Divergent much more, and I’m not afraid to admit it. But I still liked Insurgent, but there were just so many little things that bothered me throughout most of the book.
I continued to read the last book in this series, Allegiant, and fell incomplete love! LOVE I say! If you haven’t gotten the chance to pick these up yet, I recommend buying all three at one time! ASAP!
