[Some Spoilers]
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
So, let me start by saying what I really want is to give this book a 4.5. The reason is because, at the end of this book, I have SO many questions. I don’t think it’s a bad thing: I LOVE it when books spark questions and theories and a little chaos/confusion. It’s just I really have NO idea how things will be able to be answered and wrapped up in one more book. I mean, I trust Roth, but I just can’t see it.
Allow me to backtrack:
1. I ADORE Tris. I love her and I trust her completely. I spend a lot of time wondering why she does what she does, but I implicitly trust Tris’ instincts. What I love most is how, in this book, we really come to understand how Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite characteristics are all infused in her. These predilections interact with one another, inform one another, and allow Tris to see and discern things which others cannot.
2. In Divergent I fall in love with Tobias, but in Insurgent, my love for him grows by leaps and bounds. He is AMAZING. One of the things I love most about Tobias is how he instinctually works to preserve Tris’ life. Whenever there’s a fight or an attack, his first inclination is to find Tris and to physically shield her WITH HIS BODY. *FAINTS* And how Tobias’ only selfish request is that Tris not throw her life away because he can’t survive without her. I really want to know when Tobias falls in love with Tris. When does Tobias decide he won’t leave Dauntless and he’ll stay and be with Tris? Is it love at first sight? On Choosing Day, when Tris makes the first jump and Tobias is helping her out of the net and their eyes meet…is it then?
Even though they argue and are often at odds, I know Tris and Tobias will be okay. NOTHING else is ok, but they ARE.
3. Peter makes me feel a lot of things. I’m extremely grateful he saves Tris, but his reasoning behind it is ridiculous. Peter is stil callous and conniving and mean-spirited. BUT, it’s good to know that, given the proper incentives, he can do kind things.
4. Edith Prior and the video. OK: so the world is evil. This organization, in order to redeem human society, takes a group of folks, wipes their memories and put them in this faction-ed society. Each faction embraces a particular moral, and the hope is that, eventually, there will be a group of people who have predilections toward multiple morals–the Divergent. And it is the Divergent who will then re-enter the general world and lead humanity back towards good. Yes? Is this a correct understanding?
A few things:
a. That room in the Erudite headquarters identifies Tris as second-generation, which means Tris’ parents are first generation. So Edith Prior and the founders of this society would be the grandparents, yes?
b. At most, 60-70 years has passed since the time of the video. Which means the outside world is more than likely, still violent and evil. I’m not so mad at Jeanine, Caleb, and the Erudite for wanting to keep that video under wraps. I don’t approve of their methods, but I definitely can understand wanting to preserve their way of life, especially when the outside world is such a mess.
c. Moreover, is this faction-ed society really any better than the outside? I mean, they’re waging war on each other! There’s violence and senseless killing. What are they supposed to contribute to the remainder of the country?
d. How exactly are the Divergent supposed change the outside society? By overthrowing the government? By expanding the faction-ed society to the rest of the world?
e. What does the outside world really look like? Do they know about this faction-ed society in what used to be Chicago? I really need to know more about this “justice and peace” organization that creates this society in the first place.
f. Why is Amity the only faction allowed to live outside the fence? Have the Amity never tred to explore the remainder of the world?
I have SO many questions, and I just don’t know how it will all sort itself out. And I don’t know the role Tris and Tobias will play in it all.
With that said, I love this book. I still find the plot and characters extremely compelling. I like the fact that I’m a little confuzzled. I just hope that the puzzle will eventually come together.