NerdFighters Book Club discussion

So, discussion time. I've already read the book but I hope others have managed to get a copy. I look forward to discussing this book with you all.

I read this book (well, the full trilogy) a while ago and loved it!!

This is a classic dystopian future drama with a kick-ass female character. What I hate is when people compare this book to The Hunger Games as if, because we've had one popular dystopian future YA book, we can't have another. This book should stand and be reviewed in its own right.

Personally, I thought it was gripping. I enjoyed the concept (I enjoyed it even more as it got fleshed out in the following books- no spoilers, I promise). What's even more impressive is the age of the author and the fact that this is her first book!! Very impressive.

I've read the whole divergent trilogy. Divergen is one of my favorite dystopian novels and an absolute must read. The whole story is captivating and gripping. I agree it shouldn't be compared to The Hunger Games. Veronica Roth did an astounding job on this novel , as well as the whole trilogy.

I agree with you all. I just finished re-reading Divergent for this month and every time I read it, I am always swept up in the initiation process (probably my favourite part of the book) and Tris's determination to get through. :)
A great read for this month.
What did you guys think of the movie adaptation?

The movie adaptation was really good. I love it so much! I feel like they did a very awesome job of staying true to the book and not making any drastic changes to the movie.

I thought the movie was really good as well. My parents loved it too and they hadn't read the book!

i absolutely loved this trilogy! i couldn't put ot down. the film is brilliant too

Read it a while ago, I enjoyed it a lot. I do remember something bugging me about it but I can't remember now (so it couldn't have been that major), would have to reread it at some point but I have too many books awaiting my attention to do so at the moment (what's new?)

The movie was a really good adaptation, kudos to writers and directors staying true to the book! Nothing irks me more than a movie that goes on its own mission.

What I loved about this book was that there was no love triangle because my word those are overdone in recent YA.

Natalia wrote: "Read it a while ago, I enjoyed it a lot. I do remember something bugging me about it but I can't remember now (so it couldn't have been that major), would have to reread it at some point but I have..."

Nat, if I remember correctly, it was the third book that bothered you (with the two POV's). I won't elaborate for fear of spoilers but yeah.

What I liked was that the glaring plot hole of the first two books was addressed by the third book. I could only really accept the premise once I had read the third book.

The movie was really good, I was impressed that they actually stuck to the story (for the most part).

I didn't notice a glaring plothole o.o
I really didn't like the third book though...

Probably the first one to say this on this thread, but I didn't like the book very much. I still read through it to finish it but I'd have been happy to put it down halfway (sometime before the initiations even started).

What I found troubling is how Roth treated the readers. It was a poorly imagined world, in my opinion, or maybe she just didn't put it down in words enough for me to grasp all the realities. The world building could have used some work.
The plot was slow and aimless till the very end and I would've liked to know more about some things (I've been told a lot of things are resolved in the second book but I have no inclination of reading it).

The idea of factions isn't bad but it's really ridiculous how it's implemented. Breaking down of jobs depending on factions, like Abnegation handling the politics etc..
Also, how aren't many more people divergent? Why is it such a rarity? It crossed the line mixing courage with reckless actions. Are Dauntless just adrenaline freaks? It seemed a little overdone.
The book needed slight more maturity in terms of formally addressing the ideas on how the society operates and functions. Also how personalities are portrayed (in terms of the factions) was a little underdone.
What I thought was really well done was Al's story, but I wouldn't recommend the book to anyone.

I definitely agree that world building is a huge weakness - and frankly it tries to take care of those things later and doesn't do it very well.

Personally, I loved the characters and that was enough to keep my interest. But I do see what you mean about the plot.

I agree with most of your comments. And about the factions, you'll see the logic if you read the second book. I really liked all of the books, even though I don't like what she did in the third book when she started to change POV but I understan why. But yeah really nice books.

Ok, so the glaring plothole as I saw it was this: this book was not a good portrayal of human nature. People are not wholly honest/brave/selfless to the point of self-annihilation. None of us would say that we fit the mould of any of those factions, because none of us have 2D personalities (which is essentially what everyone who isn't Divergent is like). Yeah, we might all have dominant features but not to the degree of the factions.

Like I said, this is all addressed in book 3. That made me feel a lot better about the initial premise.

Callie that's a very good point. I did think about that when I was reading it...Definitely something that should have been addressed in the first book but at least it's addressed at some point. I think the explanation could have been better though...Not sure how I feel about it.

I think thats something that addressed as the characters develop mature and learn about themselves. In a socoety intent on putting us into boxes, isn't it only natural to want to comply, even to your detriment?

Yes....but would a normal human being even be able to comply? Like, the way the system seems to work is that if someone is divergent, they are unable to comply (like not falling directly into one category in the test for example).

Book 2 discusses the Amity drugging the bread to keep people calm... and by discusses I mean there is a 2 sentence statement about it.

I had always thought it was a case of compliance as well and dismissed the problem while I was reading the first two books as a result. It still bugged me though. But it turns out that my initial woes were well founded. Much happier.

Love this series! It is one of my favourites and will always have a special place in my heat. I loved the movie and I can't wait for the next one. The only problem I had with the series was the ending, the VERY end. I know not all stories end happily but it was a little bit sudden for my licking.... But I still love it!!

I really enjoyed the series. I thought it taught some great lessons, and I can't wait for all the movies to be made. I am especially looking forward to Allegiant Part 2, 'cause we all know what happens there ;)

I thought this was ok, because the love story in this book was a lot better than Hunger Games. I can still see why it's not realistic, but every charactor actually has obvious motivations and feelings.

Callie wrote: Ok, so the glaring plothore as I saw it was this: this book was not a good portrayal of human nature. People are not wholly honest/brave/selfless to the point of self annihilation

The author tries to clear up this point during the end, that people's ideals align with their faction. But then the question comes up, what makes somebody Divergent? Because the people are so fleshed out as to take on every faction charactoristic, to some degree.

Soham said: What I found troubling was how Roth treated the readers. It was a poorly imagined world...

Because I live in Chicago, where the city is obviously based, I had a fun time thinking about how the world falls into ruin. But if you've never visited all of the places in the book, it doesn't really make sense at all. I agree, the descriptions of the scenes is boring, and way too fast. I would have preferred no references at all, or at least a map.

I don't really want to read the rest of the trilogy. I understand why factions are a bad idea already, and don't care about the main relationship past this point.

I really enjoyed the series. Especially Divergent, Although I had a few problems with the other 2.
The main thing I never quite got was this: (view spoiler)[ so in Allegiant we find out that the reason they have only one main personality trait is because they are genetically modified. People become Divergent when their genes are mixed. so how is it that it was so normal for people who were born to 2 parents from the same faction to be suited to a different faction? how come all the people who would chose a different faction were not divergent? (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]