I am reviewing the boxed set, as I read the entire series before I wrote the review. As a result, this review is going to have four parts: Each book reviewed, then the whole series. There are going to be spoilers so the review will be hidden....
Review 1 - Divergent:
Pro - the characters are fascinating, the plot flows very well, and the action is extremely believable.
Con - There were no surprises in terms of Beatrice/Tris saves Tobias/Four, the simulation's outcome is incredibly predictable given what we have learned about Tris' resistance to serums. Put another way, while I enjoyed the characters, plot, and action, there were no surprises.
Overall, I would give Divergent FOUR STARS. It is good but not great.
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Review 2 - Insurgent:
Pro - Several people we are told in the first book are dead are not dead. The effects on Tobias, and as a result on Beatrice, provide much the tension in the plot. The action continue to "pop" quite well, and the several people who suffer losses or are themselves killed keep everyone off-balance, reducing some of the plot predictability.
Con - First, the minor cons. We know since there is a third book that no one major is going to die here. It is not really a serious problem but the author's dramatic tension really did not make this any question. But now we come to the serious issue I had with this book. THIS IS MAJOR: The author telegraphs the ending for the series she has in mind almost half-way through. In addition, she lets her explicit Christianity not merely bleed but begin to dominate the story. I am not sure if she fancies herself the heir to C.S. Lewis and his Narnia series, but we have a near-perfect rendition of the Jesus myth with Beatrice in the role of Jesus. This detracted from the story for me in a serious way. If I wanted to read Christian fiction, I would have bought such books.
Overall, this book gets THREE STARS. Well-written and a good tale, the whole "look at my Christian allegory" thing took away from what could have been a good tale.
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Review 3 - Allegiant:
Pro - This is not so much a positive about the book as much as a positive about the writing itself. Nearly every prediction I made upon reading Insurgent came to pass in this book. The only one I made that did not come true was who the ultimate villain would be, though I was only proven wrong near the very end of the story. In effect, Veronica Roth is so good at telegraphing her Christian allegory that I was able to call it top-to-bottom.
Con - You see this coming a mile away. BEATRICE IS JESUS, laying down her life for something bigger than herself and serving as an inspiration for all, especially Tobias. She is super-human to the end, unable to be stopped by serums, stopping her brother from dying by taking his place. There is nothing surprising in any way in this.
Overall, this one gets TWO STARS. Selling Christian fiction as young adult dystopian fiction is a cheap shot but nothing less than I expect from someone whose dedications begin with praising her god and his human self.
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Before I give my review for the whole series, I want to save people time and lay out what Roth did with this. I am giving her a lot of credit for trying to hide her religious propaganda, though she is not as capable as C.S. Lewis, whose Narnia series did precisely what she tried to do here and indoctrinate children into Christian myths. If you are reading this, you are not going to mind spoilers, so here goes the whole allegory lain out:
*Beatrice/Jesus is the salvation of everyone.
*David is Pontius Pilate and the Jewish Elders executing Jesus for attacking the government and preaching a different doctrine.
*Marcus is a combination of Judas (betrayer) and Caiphas (seeks to maintain status quo)
*Tobias is Peter, who fails to trust but ultimately comes to love the messiah
*Evelyn is a combination of John the Baptist (preaches against the status quo) and Peter in the Garden (willing to fight to bring down the status quo)
*The Project is the Roman government.
*The factionless/fringe dwellers are the poor to whom Jesus preaches.
Overall, the series does warrant the THREE STARS I give it. It is well-written overall, has memorable characters, and the author did a very good job of creating a Christian mythology-based story sequence, right down to the sacrificial lamb being slaughtered in order to "redeem" everyone. But it is not good enough to warrant any higher rating. Pushing Christian fiction in this way is as pathetic an attempt to preach the gospel as many of the other "dystopian young adult" books that I have encountered.