Candor comes out on Divergent
The last month or so I've been reading the Divergent book series by Veronica Roth. For those of you who've never heard of it, that's not a big deal. Most people will tell you that it reminds them a lot of the Hunger Games series which makes sense because the book's setting takes place in the future and society is divided up into "factions" (known as "districts" in the Hunger Games series). The books also seem to target the same audience and age groups.
I'm not typically "hip" to what kids are reading these days, but I do like a good book series and I'm especially a sucker for books that will be made into a movie. If you know me personally, you know that my favorite book series and movies are the Twilight Saga books even though there is debate on the merits of the movie verses the book (books are way better). While Divergent doesn't really hold a candle to the Twilight series in terms of character development and love story plot, I did find the book to be very entertaining.
To acquaint you with the Divergent series, the main thing to understand is that the city (which later we discover to be Chicago) is divided into 5 factions: Abnegation, meant for the selfless; Amity, meant for the peaceful; Candor, meant for the honest; Dauntless, meant for the brave; and Erudite, meant for the knowledgeable. On a given day each year, all sixteen-year-olds take an "aptitude test" that will tell them for which faction they are best suited. After receiving the results of their test, they must decide whether to remain with their family or transfer to a new faction. (source: Wikipedia but beware there are spoilers if you read too much)
We follow the story through the eyes of Beatrice Prior as she determines what faction she will chose and the adventures that she encounters along the way. Those adventures are detailed in the three books: Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant (in that order).
All of the books were very entertaining to me. I'm grateful that I had the 2nd book ready to go when I finished the first because the cliff hanger was too hard to forget about! I felt like Insurgent and Allegiant (2nd and 3rd books) had small lulls in the middle, but that's sometimes expected in these kinds of series. Those lull moments seem to help the author explain what's going on in the minds of the characters and re-cap the events that have all ready happened. This is extra helpful when you're trying to keep all 5 of the factions straight. Still, I have to be honest and tell you that I found the 1st book, Divergent, to be the most exciting and the 2nd and 3rd books didn't quite stand up to the pace the author had accustomed me to.
I'm most definitely not a person who regularly does book reviews but I have to say that I found myself wishing a few things (spoiler alerts are about to commence). I wished that the author had developed the outlying characters just a little more. I felt like I understood the shell of most characters, but not their inner workings. I was also hoping to have a little more romance but maybe that's just the hopeless romantic inside me... Not to make comparisons (again) but there are so many book series' out there that have complicated, fun, and exciting characters. I love to see those characters grow together and a good romantic plot works for me. The Divergent series is more about society and finding yourself. There's not a lot of lovey dovey jazz so you might have to brace yourself for that.
I do have to hand it to the author, Veronica Roth. Somehow the faction system has taken root in my brain and I feel like I'm constantly labeling people and trying to decide who belongs in one faction or another. "Wow, that person is so Erudite!" Or "Wow, that person is so blunt, they could totally be in Candor!"
The Divergent Movie comes out in theaters on March 21st and I already have my tickets purchased! (Told you I was a sucker for movies based on books I've recently read!) You might recognize the main character, Beatrice, as Shailene Woodley from The Secrete Life of an American Teenager. I've never considered Shailene to be a great actress but to be completely fair, I've never paid that much attention. I'm anxious to see how she does in the movie. Her co-star, Theo James, should be very enjoyable to watch! ;)
For your viewing pleasure, I've provided a handy link to the Divergent trailer below! If you're looking for some tween entertainment, this might be just what you're looking for!
I'm not typically "hip" to what kids are reading these days, but I do like a good book series and I'm especially a sucker for books that will be made into a movie. If you know me personally, you know that my favorite book series and movies are the Twilight Saga books even though there is debate on the merits of the movie verses the book (books are way better). While Divergent doesn't really hold a candle to the Twilight series in terms of character development and love story plot, I did find the book to be very entertaining.
To acquaint you with the Divergent series, the main thing to understand is that the city (which later we discover to be Chicago) is divided into 5 factions: Abnegation, meant for the selfless; Amity, meant for the peaceful; Candor, meant for the honest; Dauntless, meant for the brave; and Erudite, meant for the knowledgeable. On a given day each year, all sixteen-year-olds take an "aptitude test" that will tell them for which faction they are best suited. After receiving the results of their test, they must decide whether to remain with their family or transfer to a new faction. (source: Wikipedia but beware there are spoilers if you read too much)
We follow the story through the eyes of Beatrice Prior as she determines what faction she will chose and the adventures that she encounters along the way. Those adventures are detailed in the three books: Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant (in that order).
All of the books were very entertaining to me. I'm grateful that I had the 2nd book ready to go when I finished the first because the cliff hanger was too hard to forget about! I felt like Insurgent and Allegiant (2nd and 3rd books) had small lulls in the middle, but that's sometimes expected in these kinds of series. Those lull moments seem to help the author explain what's going on in the minds of the characters and re-cap the events that have all ready happened. This is extra helpful when you're trying to keep all 5 of the factions straight. Still, I have to be honest and tell you that I found the 1st book, Divergent, to be the most exciting and the 2nd and 3rd books didn't quite stand up to the pace the author had accustomed me to.
I'm most definitely not a person who regularly does book reviews but I have to say that I found myself wishing a few things (spoiler alerts are about to commence). I wished that the author had developed the outlying characters just a little more. I felt like I understood the shell of most characters, but not their inner workings. I was also hoping to have a little more romance but maybe that's just the hopeless romantic inside me... Not to make comparisons (again) but there are so many book series' out there that have complicated, fun, and exciting characters. I love to see those characters grow together and a good romantic plot works for me. The Divergent series is more about society and finding yourself. There's not a lot of lovey dovey jazz so you might have to brace yourself for that.
I do have to hand it to the author, Veronica Roth. Somehow the faction system has taken root in my brain and I feel like I'm constantly labeling people and trying to decide who belongs in one faction or another. "Wow, that person is so Erudite!" Or "Wow, that person is so blunt, they could totally be in Candor!"
The Divergent Movie comes out in theaters on March 21st and I already have my tickets purchased! (Told you I was a sucker for movies based on books I've recently read!) You might recognize the main character, Beatrice, as Shailene Woodley from The Secrete Life of an American Teenager. I've never considered Shailene to be a great actress but to be completely fair, I've never paid that much attention. I'm anxious to see how she does in the movie. Her co-star, Theo James, should be very enjoyable to watch! ;)
For your viewing pleasure, I've provided a handy link to the Divergent trailer below! If you're looking for some tween entertainment, this might be just what you're looking for!
See you in the theaters!
Comments
Post a Comment