Divergent by Veronica Roth

Another "wow" in the books folks.

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

I loved it. Besides Neal Shusterman's Unwind, I haven't found a complete, detailed dystopia world and an intriguing plot since I read The Giver when I was in middle school. This world that Roth has created is awesome. There are five factions that all pride themselves one specific quality. They qualities are: honesty, bravery, selflessness, knowledge, and peaceful. Our heroine, Beatrice aka Tris is part of the selflessness faction but knows she doesn't fit. When she gets tested for her aptitude to decide where she goes, her test results are inconclusive making her "divergent" which in this story is a big NO NO. She has to keep it hidden at all times. - You'll find out why later on.

Tris joins Dauntlesss - bravery and goes through a series of trials to prove her worth. Did i mention Four? The hott instructor that has an interest in Tris and slowly Roth builds the chemistry and it's great. Tris isn't comfortable with affection so she fumbles through it.

Tris also knows that being divergent is not a good thing. Two people know about her identity and both react so strongly and that she must not let anyone else find out that she can't help but feel like something is wrong with her but it also makes her extremely curious. The definition of divergent is: tending to be different or develop in a different direction (check out that alliteration).

There are many courageous characters in this story. But for every brave character that is a coward, keeping a great balance of good and evil.

In this post-Chicago era, one of the factions is not so honest and causes a big problem. Being Divergent, Tris is the person who is most in control to defend and preserve the society. It was a great story...just great.

Some quick thoughts:

I HEART the mother.

Divergent 2? yes please.

Four hasn't made my boyfriend list but that could change

I should make a side bar for my fictional boyfriends and rank them

The world was so detailed. It's a must for any dystopia reader.