By Cynthia Ayala
HarperCollins
Tris’s life has become chaotic as she tries to grapple with the fact that she’s Divergent, an individual who fits into multiple factions. After the events of the Erudite brain-washing the Dauntless and invading Abnegation, murdering them for a secret they were in charge of protecting, war is creeping into factions. Tris must embrace her Divergent side and bring the people together to challenge the Erudite and their quest for power.
Published May 1st 2012 by HarperCollins Children’s Books,
Insurgent is the second book in Veronica Roth‘s young adult sci-fi Divergent series.
Insurgent is the sequel to the best-selling Divergent novel following Tris Prior, the divergent who broke the system when she fought back against mind control, oppression and murder. Jeanine, the leader of the Erudite faction, the faction control and power, she wants to rule over the factions, but to do that, she needs something that Abnegation had, some piece of knowledge. And she wants to control the Divergent’s. That’s the premise of this novel, where Tris and her pals are on the run but also on a journey to expose Jeanine for the tyrant that she is. That allows for the tension to rise within the plot because no one faction wants to do anything, it’s the kids who can see what’s going on in the world around them, and it’s up to Tris, who can escape simulations, to save the day. That’s bare bones of the story because for Jeanine. Her motivation, while believable, leaves her just a bit underwhelming. She’s the antagonist who has sacrificed her humanity for knowledge and power leaving her just a bit robotic, the small aspects of something human the reader sees, those are the smallest of scenes and are spaced far apart leaving her somewhat static which, on some level, is part of the point. The faction system is used to take emotion out of them leaving them with one characteristic so that they can better maintain piece. the story works to create this very unique dystopic world for the reader, but there are times when the motivations o the characters sometimes gets clouded because of the of the faction system and the lack of emotion.
That’s not to say that the story lacks character development, on the contrary, to see the characters explore other aspects of themselves outside of what society wants them to behave. That’s what makes this story so relevant and captivating because these characters are breaking out of the fold, breaking away from conformity to be true to themselves and every reader can relate to that. That’s good because in world where emotions are secondary, to see those who put it first, the motivations of why, that makes for good character development.
Insurgent isn’t a complex story but there are times when the structure is somewhat convoluted. That’s not to say it’s bad, but it does mean the reader must read carefully or else they will miss a vital piece of information. Every word here is crucial and for a 525-page book, that means a lot going on here. it has great plot twists and tension, as well a great character development, but some of the edges are just a bit rough land there are toms that those sentences just come off as a tad bit confusion. (★★★☆☆ | B)
| Pub Date: May 1, 2012 | Page count: 525pp | Age Range: 15 – 18 |
| ISBN: 978-0-0074-4291-1 | Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books | List Price: $17.99 |
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