Review: Insurgent

Title: Insurgent (Divergent #2)
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: May1st, 2012
Genre: YA, Dystopian Fiction

This review will contain spoilers for Divergent, the previous book in the series.

Tris Prior lives in a futuristic Chicago where everyone is separated into different factions based on their defining characteristics and what they value the most. Abnegation for the selfless, Amity for the peaceful, Candor for the honest, Dauntless for the brave and Erudite for the intelligent. While Tris was raised in Abnegation, selflessness never came easy for her and she craved the freedom she couldn’t find in her faction. Tris became a part of Dauntless, and her initiation day took an unexpected turn when the Erudite attacked using the Dauntless as an army. Now, the factions are at war with Erudite, and something in Tris’ brain makes her important. With her family torn apart, Tris has to deal with overwhelming guilt towards her actions in the past. Her selfless bravery means that she is constantly putting herself in danger. As Tris struggles with her role in the war, she will have to embrace the different characteristics of each of the factions.

This is the long awaited sequel to Divergent, taking place not long after the events in that book. I read Divergent last year and while I enjoyed it as a whole I thought the ending wasn’t as strong as the rest of the book. Insurgent was action packed and full of excitement. The stakes are higher than ever for Tris, who will do anything to protect those she loves. Tris is divergent and has characteristics of three of the factions: intelligent, brave and selfless. That makes her reckless and her actions can be sometimes frustrating, but I loved her character. In this book Tris is dealing with the consequences of her actions in Divergent. This means dealing with guilt and grief while still struggling with the ongoing war. I can be picky about couples in books, but I love Four and Tris together. At times they don’t make it easy, but I kept rooting for those crazy kids to work it out. One of the problems I found with Divergent was that the pacing didn’t feel right, and I felt the same way about Insurgent. I also found the plot a little difficult to follow, but at the same time some things took me by surprise, and I’m usually pretty good at predicting what will happen in books. In this book we get to see more of the other factions and even the factionless. Overall, I thought this book looked deeper into the themes and world established in Divergent. While I didn’t enjoy it as much as Divergent, fans of the series will enjoy being able to look closer into Tris’ world.

3/5

“We both have war inside us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.”