Divergent by Veronica Roth (Book 1)

The book Divergent is a dystopian novel that follows a teenage girl named Beatrice “Tris” Prior as she tries to figure out who she is in a broken society that’s split into five factions. Each faction had different values, a different trait — bravery, peace, selflessness, intelligence, or honesty. Interestingly, Tris doesn’t fit just one. She is Divergent, which means she doesn’t belong in any box. That makes her dangerous since she can have all traits.

Each faction supposedly despises each other. A faction will think they’re superior over the others. After you choose a faction, they’ll make you think the same way. They think that bravery comes with recklessness, the peaceful as weak, the selfless to be taken advantage of, the intelligent to be heartless, and the honest as unsympathetic.

I actually really liked this book because it’s not just another dystopian story where the main character is “special” for no reason. Tris chooses Dauntless (the bravery faction), and she works hard to survive. Putting extra effort into sparring and how to wield weapons. She’s not naturally strong, and she gets injured a lot.

One of the best parts of the book is the relationship between Tris and Tobias, also known as Four. Four is the second main character of the story. They help each other grow, and he treats her like an equal. Also, Four has his own secrets and backstory, which makes it more realistic and shows more character development. Four had been born in Abnegation (the selfless faction) but then chose to join Dauntless, going from the selfless young boy to a fearless section leader.

I feel like the biggest theme in Divergent is identity. All characters supposedly need to act one way even if they don’t agree with it. The question is “What are you going to do about it?” Tris struggles with that the whole time. She’s determined to do something about the growing number of factionless people (people who live or have been exiled by their faction). Therefore, she questions her decision a lot, wondering if she made the right decision or has any regrets.

Overall, I like some rebellion, relationships, and a strong protagonist so I really love and recommend this series of books if you like action, suspense, and character development. The world-building is really interesting, the fighting scenes are intense, and the message makes a difference: It’s okay not to fit into one group. Sometimes that makes you stronger.