I don't know why I am so drawn to young adult fiction. With my English Literature major, I have fallen in love with Shakespeare, Dickens, and Hemingway, but some of my favorite book series are still Harry Potter and Pendragon Adventures by D.J. MacHale. While I have no love for Twilight and books likes it, which disguise poor writing and poor life choices under a highly emotional and volatile romance (which, I cannot deny, I fell for at first), many young adult fiction works are engaging reads which address issues happening in the lives of the young readers.
An increasingly popular genre, especially after the release of the popular Hunger Games trilogy, is distopian fiction. Veronica Roth has attempted to follow in the footsteps with her Divergent series. The first book, of the same name, follows a young girl Beatrice as she goes through the 'coming of age' ceremony called the Choosing Ceremony, where each 16 year old child is made to choose which 'faction' of society they will join. The factions are based upon those traits one values most, such as bravery, selflessness, or honesty. Beatrice has trouble choosing between factions, and a test administrator secretly whispers that she is a Divergent, one who surpasses the bounds of the factions. Beatrice leaves her home faction, Abnegation, in favor of the strong, fearless division called Dauntless. Upon her arrival, she and the other 'initiates' are subjected to intensive training and testing, where the newly nicknamed Tris makes some new friends, some enemies, falls in love, and begins to see the cracks in the society she lives in. As she struggles with her new identity, love, and making the right choices, her resistance makes her a target for those who would pit the factions against each other.
So I read this book in a single evening. Not because it was short, but because I was truly engaged in the story. The characters are strong, believable, and grow through the book's 486 pages. They worry about making friends, finding love, and fitting in. They deal with separation, fears, suicide, and bullying, much like we all do in schools today. The story progresses smoothly, with no gaping plot holes or omissions. All told, I really did enjoy this book. There are things I would change, things as small as a character's age and as large as deaths (see my rant below, but only if you haven't read the book for don't care for spoilers). While the book does deal moderately with sexuality, it does so much more appropriately than other "teen" books **coughcoughtwilightcough**. If I, as a collegiate scholar of literature, was able to stay focused and engaged in the story so as to read nearly 500 pages in a single day, then I have to give props to Veronica Roth on a book well done!
Oh, and apparently it's going to be a movie? I'll discuss my thoughts on film adaptations later
Photo from divergent.wikia.com
****SPOILERS****
Here is my rant, I have a 'thing' with character deaths. They have to be meaningful, or leave them out. Yes, this story ends in a battle, and people die. The battle itself is meaningful - it is the crux of the novel, the turning point for the series, the culmination of plot and character development. The first death of the novel is meaningful - a young, confused boy who suffered the bullies, got rejected by a friend, became one of the oppressors, and couldn't handle the pressure. His death makes the characters think, makes them resolute, makes them confused. His death is important. But in the last 75 pages or so, Roth kills both of Tris' parents. One parent, especially her mother, would be significant. But the second is overkill. If you don't want her parents cluttering the story, don't put them in! Single parent family, or orphan, and the loss of one strikes just as hard. A surviving parent can provide motivation, teaching... The 'kill everyone she loves to prove a point' is overdone. Make that point without violence of two parental deaths.
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