Week 5: Divergent by Veronica Roth

    This week on feelingsonbooks.com, we are looking at the book Divergent by Veronica Roth. The author paints a world set in futuristic Chicago where society is sorted into five different groups called factions. Imagine being sixteen years old and your whole future of where you will live and fit into society is dependent on a simulation test which reveals their best fit based on natural psychology and then you’re able to choose the faction the test showed or choose a different faction altogether. Sixteen, and you’re an adult in this world. 

    I was surprised to learn that the main character Beatrice, or Tris as she renames herself, tested inconclusive, which meant she was divergent. I didn’t know that this meant that the way she was psychologically that she had a natural fit in more than one faction. How did this make her dangerous? Why would the other factions find her dangerous? Why did the leaders feel that having multiple traits was a threat? I was even more surprised to learn that Tris’ mom was originally born into the Dauntless faction, so when Tris chose to leave her birth faction of Abnegation and become part of Dauntless, I found it very interesting to say the least. What did you think when Tris chose to become part of Dauntless, which is kind of the same thing as the military in a way, on Choosing Day? 

    Another curious thing I wondered about as I was reading was that Tris’ brother, Caleb, chose to change factions from Abnegation to Erudite. Why did he value knowledge and logic more than his family’s selfless ways? The more the story unfolded, I couldn’t help but wonder if the siblings choosing different factions would be a bad idea. Would they eventually be forced to be rivals since the Erudite faction decides to use the Dauntless faction to wipe out the Abnegation faction using mind control serum? What was going to happen to their parents who were still a part of the Abnegation faction? What did you think of Caleb’s choice? Do you think he made a mistake? Do you think he will regret his choice later? 

    Lastly, Tris begins her new life in the Dauntless faction and begins to train with her mentor Tobias Eaton, or Four as he is nicknamed. I was surprised that Four was able to recognize Tris’ multiple abilities and realize that she is divergent. Later we learned that Four was able to notice Tris’ abilities more easily because he also is divergent and attempts to help Tris hide the fact that she is divergent while also maintaining his secret as well. 

    So far, I feel this book has the feeling of Hunger Games. The type of genre is not my personal favorite, but we will see what happens in the second half of the book next week and compared it to the movie. So, what do you think of this book, Divergent by Veronica Roth? Is it a favorite of yours or could you do without it?