Insurgent by Veronica Roth

July 19, 2012 / 5 Comments / Review, Uncategorized

Insurgent by Veronica RothInsurgent (Divergent, #2)

Goodreads
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Publication date: May 1st 2012

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.
New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian DIVERGENT series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

Check out my review of Divergent, the first book in this series

Review: I rushed out to get Insurgent after I stayed up all night reading Divergent, so that tells you something about my state of mind when I started it. That said, I didn’t find Insurgent quite as compelling as Divergent – it was compelling, don’t get me wrong, but the pacing was different as a lot of it had to do with Tris planning and figuring out what was going on around her. I liked this better in a lot of ways, though – I thought it better illustrated a character’s state of mind in a place that was warring. Tris’ ambivalent behavior towards death was realistic, and her natural suspicion even more in character. Tobias/Four’s state of mind was also well defined.

I was impressed that Roth didn’t go the easy route for a lot of the surprises – the story really twisted and turned as things went on, and just when you thought a fight was over, another thing would crop up. I liked the revelations with Evelyn, Marcus and the Priors. I felt that the Caleb revelation was pretty obvious, but other than that, the book was very solid, and it felt like better sci-fi than the first book. I’m grateful that Roth didn’t end the book on a ginormous cliffhanger – there is a cliffhanger, but I don’t feel desperate to read the next book. That said, I’m sure I will be rushing out to buy “Detergent” on its release day anyway!

Overall score: 4/5 stars


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5 responses to “Insurgent by Veronica Roth

  1. YAY for Insurgent!!! I got it for my birthday (early July), and never actually read it because I was scared as to how it would turn out. But, I sat myself down a couple of months ago and read it. So glad I did. Many, many second-in-the-series books do not meet up to the standards of the first book. I'll say that I like Divergent more than Insurgent, but Insurgent definitely held up the tandards that I had. BOOK THREEEEEE!!!!!!!
    Thanks for the review!

  2. I haven't read Insurgent yet. I loved Divergent so much and I just want to have the last book ready so I can read it all in one go. And if I have the last book, and Insurgent isn't great for me, I can move right on to book 3 and get my Roth groove back!

  3. I love the Divergent series, hope Allegiant will meet my expectations (which are high, I must say). Only several days remaining till the release (on my birthday, yay)… 😀

  4. I read the first book and I wasn't sure if I still want to continue on with the series after knowing all the spoilers, but I think I'll pick this series up again. Great review! <3

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