Kishaz Reading Corner: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Now that I've watched the movie and read the book, I'm ready to do my review. So, yes, you are getting 2 reviews for the price of one :). Let's start with the book.

Disclaimer: I received no compensation from the author or publisher for this honest review.

About the Book/Movie

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, 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 alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating 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 unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Buy the Book

AMAZON

Here's what I'm giving it:

Rating:  3.5 stars

Here's why:

I read the book after I saw the movie so it gave me a chance to compare the two. There were several changes that they made to the film that were not necessarily in the book. There were also some things in the book that I would have loved to seen in the movie because I feel it would have made myself, as a viewer (and future reader of the first book), more invested.

But getting back to the book, I have to say that the characters felt "real." The societal themes such as conformity, finding a place to belong and, in general, growing up and leaving home, all helped to move the novel along and keep me invested the entire time.

The romance was so-so but that didn't deter me from finishing the book.

I will pick up the next book in the series to see what happens to the main characters.

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Now on to the movie review.

Disclaimer: I received no compensation from the author, publisher or film companies for this honest review.

Buy the Movie

AMAZON

Here's what I'm giving it:

Rating:  4 stars

Here's why:

As I mentioned above, I saw the movie before I read the book. The action sequences, the plot and the overall acting were enough to make me pick up the book to see what else might be hidden in the book that didn't make it to the film.

Both the film and the book were worth my time to watch and read and, yes, I would recommend them to others.