Insurgent

First off, I have to admit that it is difficult for me to rate this book without rating the series as a whole, so that is what I am going to do. It turns out I cannot review this series without comparing it to Hunger Games.

There is a great deal of similarity between this series and Hunger Games. Teenage coming-of-age adventure story in a post-apocalyptic dystopian society. I could go further into the premise, but it really does not make much sense outside the context of the book.

Again, like Hunger Games, I found the first book gripping and devoured it quickly. The second book did a good job of keeping up that pace.

Then the third book comes up, and, once again like Hunger Games, it takes the “Us vs. Them” story and throws in “oh look, These Guys Too! Bet you didn’t see THAT coming!” plot hook, and things go off the rails for me. The first two books seem to be building your hope for the characters and the world they live in and the ability for them to make the world better. Then they expand the world, and the third book goes about crushing your hopes of a happy ending.

While reading the first two books, I was a little bummed that it would be over in three. By the time I was about a quarter through the third book, I was ready for it to be done. I was looking forward to Four during the first two books. After reading the third, I don’t have any real interest in reading Four anymore.

The real world does not have happy endings for everyone, but this isn’t really about happy endings. It is more about building up these characters to great heights with the implication that they will usher in a new age. Then, it turns out in the end they are a cog in a machine in the end. Important, sure, but used to an end just the same.

I would actually rate the first two books at five stars, but the third book is such a letdown that it brings down the whole series for me, and this book is useless without the other two. If you read Hunger Games and loved it, this scratches the same itch. In the end, I didn’t hate it, but it lost a lot of luster quickly in the end.

“Like a wild animal, the truth is too powerful to remain caged.”

INSURGENT begins where DIVERGENT left off with Beatrice Tris Prior and Tobias Four Eaton, along with Marcus Eaton, Peter Hayes and Caleb Prior, riding the train to an uncertain future in the aftermath of the Erudite simulation induced attack that decimated two of the five factions residing in post-apocalyptic Chicago. Roths masterful worldbuilding continues as Tris, Four, and the other survivors seek refuge in Amity, Candor, and amongst the factionless sector, giving readers deeper insight into the dystopian world Roth created in Divergent. As Tris struggles to understand what being Divergent means and how she fits in amongst the factions, Erudites ruthless leader, Jeanine Matthews, continues to hunt and kill those who are Divergent because she believes their ability to think independently is a threat to society. Meanwhile, Tris overhears Amity representative Johanna Reyes and Marcus Eaton discussing how the Abnegation leaders died to protect secret information entrusted to them from getting into Jeanine Matthews possession.

As war looms between the factions and their ideologies grow, unexpected alliances form to eradicate Erudites iron grip on the city. And Tris will risk everything for the one thing that matters: the truth.

Much like DIVERGENT, I saw the movie firstsomething I almost never do. But now that Ive read the book, I was once again pleasantly surprised by how close the studio stuck to the storyline. Packed full of action, danger and underlying conflict, the second book in Roths DIVERGENT TRILOGY revolves around rebellion, betrayal, guilt, grief, forgiveness, friendship, love and sacrifice. Even though I knew what was going to happen, the amount of detail and worldbuilding found in the bookas opposed to the moviemade for another highly entertaining, addictive read.

The Divergent Series appears to be new mythology in the making, an important dilemma rising to consciousness . . . how to fit into the modern world if you can’t just do what your parents did – which has been the human way for thousands perhaps millions of years. Now days careers may last less time than required to pay back student loans!

As important as that is, Roth’s writing is unconscious as yet, and after a good beginning in the first novel, she loses focus, her energetic and competent heroine wishes it would all just go away, hiding every chance she gets, diving into physical romantic moments when she should be planning or running for her life, refusing to ever pick up a gun again, and getting her friends killed at such a rate that as one reviewer noted, one wonders if anyone will be left alive at the end. Roth’s switch to an “experiment” instead of reality importantly reflects the difficulty of young people today (or anyone for that matter) perceiving reality in a world that changes as fast as the Erudite Sims. So the author gets lost in the problem she has uncovered, fooled by her own Sim, unable to emulate her heroine.

I believe this is immaturity. Roth is still very young, has a following, and might become a great author. Or a hack. Time will tell, and I wish her luck. I will not be reading the 3rd book. My low rating, though, is intended not only to warn readers but to provide needed feedback to the author in the heady sea of success she must be reveling in with a movie and all, not necessarily to discourage. Becoming an author is a good choice for anyone who cannot decide on a practical career (i.e. faction), and is somewhat like Dauntless or Erudite in that few people really succeed at it. So I suspect the story is personal. Maybe next we’ll get a series about a heroine that enjoys unexpected heady success?

Again, as with the first book in the Divergent trilogy, I loved the world building here, but the promise of romance/love between the two main characters progresses very little in that I don’t fully understand or really see their attachment to each other. Nothing has really happened on an emotional level. It seems more of a story device than an organic story theme.

Tris continues in her selfish way of making decisions that have an effect on the lives many more people than just herself, without due consideration to those she professes to like or love, and even without respecting or trusting anyone else to come up with an equal or better plan than the one she has in mind. Her role as martyr becomes tiringly inevitable after a while.

Death has a big role to play in the book, again, and certainly Ms Roth takes no prisoners and gives way to no sentimentality when it comes to choosing who lives and who dies. Whether this is a nod cruelty present in Tris’s world, or she is signposting something bigger, I have no idea.

I’m still not sure I know these characters very well. I don’t understand a great deal as to their motivations, or really feel what they are feeling. They are still a little 2D for my taste.

That said, actually reading the book is not a negative experience. Watching the characters operate in their highly detailed dystopian world, to rules only they understand, is fascinating.

I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Insurgent, he says. Noun. A person who acts in opposition to the established authority, who is not necessarily regarded as a belligerent.

A lot of the time, the second book in a trilogy becomes a “filler” book, basically just to fill the gap between an amazing start and brilliant ending. But this was not the case with Insurgent, It held its own, and gave us a lot of vital information as well as including some of the most memorable scenes.

Insurgent carries on immediately where Divergent ended, leaving our characters to deal with the consequences of the simulation that ended many lives lost. For many of the Dauntless this means dealing with the fact they are now murderers, for Tris this means dealing with the death of her parents and Will, for Tobias this means dealing with the fact that his father back in his life.

This book very much tests the friendships and relationships made in Divergent. Family betrays family, lovers lie and friendships are tested when the ultimate forgiveness is required.

Cruelty does not make a person dishonest, the same way bravery does not make a person kind.

Divergent was all about making the choice of who you wanted to be, Insurgent seems to be more about fighting for the right to be that person. We have previously only seen life in Abnegation and Dauntless, but in Insurgent we are given glimpses into the lives of Amity, Erudite and Candor. I found it fascinating seeing how each faction worked and seeing the differences in the beliefs and ways of life. Each faction has something that is important to them, whether its honesty, peace, intelligence, bravery or selflessness. The way Veronica Roth wrote about each faction allows us to see both the good and bad of each faction, and the importance of them all both separately and as a whole.

It reminds me why I chose Dauntless in the first place: not because they are perfect, but because they are alive. Because they are free.

Insurgent is an intense emotional rollercoaster for Tris who is dealing with the death of her parents and the guilt she feels over Will’s death. This results in Tris making a lot of careless decisions which leave her in some extremely dangerous situations. It was quite hard to see her in such a desperate way at times, but even so she remained a strong character and eventually finds her way.

Sleep, he says. I’ll fight the bad dreams off if they come to get you. With what? My bare hands, obviously.

Insurgent allows us to see a lot more of Four/Tobias then just the strong and brave trainer he was in Divergent. He is still that strong character, but we also get to see him at his most vulnerable, at his most frustrated and at his most loving. Tobias has a lot to deal with in the book; an unwanted reunion with his dad at the end of Divergent really shakes him and he has difficulty deciding how he wants to deal with it whilst trying to survive and fight for the survival of those he loves.

We both have war inside us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.

Insurgent makes way for the development of Tris and Tobias’/Fours relationship. It’s not easy or beautiful, there are a lot of obstacles and emotional baggage, with each keeping secrets from the other to try and protect them, which doesn’t help matters. But it makes it real. They are forced into this tough situation, of course there’s going to be struggles, and that’s what makes it believable. I will admit, there were points when I was slightly worried for them, but they always overcame it, and it made their relationship even stronger, and made me love them even more!

The truth has a way of changing people’s plans.

This book is action packed and a shock cliff hanger ending really leaves you wanting more. I actually had to read the ending a few times it was that much of a shock. I can’t wait to see were Veronica Roth takes it after this.

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