Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Divergent #3)

Now that the message is out that the Divergent are meant to go out and save the rest of the world, Tris' city is in turmoil. Evelyn has effectively replaced the factions with her own dictatorship and it does not sit well with many of the citizens. So when a revolutionary group called the Allegiant want to explore the world outside of the fence, Tris and Four agreed to go as well. What they discover changes how they view their city, the world, and even their own selves.

I haven't read any other reviews of this book but I do know from some Twitter comments that it was not well received by some readers. And I can see why. It's just like Mockingjay. Some people will like it and some won't. I fall into the liking category. I think it ended in the right place. Is it the place that I wanted to see? No. Was it appropriate? Yes. We can talk more about that in the spoiler section.

Mild Spoilers
It seems so appropriate the world they find outside is just as damaged but willing to blame it on genetics and unwilling to admit to human nature. I don't even know if they were capable of realizing that people are the way they are and that there is a lot more than just genes that account for behavior. There's a lot of moral behavior explored with the Bureau between how they treat the "genetically damaged" and their ruthlessness in trying to make the experiments behave, so to speak. It was almost more of the same between the city and the Bureau. It's not surprising at how society rearranged itself into the have and the have-nots. It's interesting that they did it  along a genetic line though.


SPOILERS (highlight)
*So Tris dying. I wasn't surprised though I did have a few moments of waiting for her to be saved at the last minute but really it seemed right. I think I went in thinking that Four was going to die and so when it was Tris instead, it was like of course. It had to be one of them. The things they have survived and seen and done, I just didn't see one of them surviving the series. I was sad that it was Tris but then it explains the use of alternating voices. I can see how people would be upset. They wanted a happy ending for Tris and Four. I did too. But life does not always come with a happy ending and the author probably wanted to tell the story that felt right to her and not one to just please an audience. 

I was a bit disappointed at the seemingly simplistic way the experiments were dissolved and the society began to fix itself. It seems like it would be harder and maybe it was but that all was glossed over pretty quickly. It's probably a whole other series anyway. *

I realized that I hadn't reviewed the first two books but then I read them on maternity leave while I was on hiatus. I might have to do a reread one day.

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