Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for the second book in the Divergent Trilogy.
The trend of being pleasantly surprised continues.
I wasn’t sure that Insurgent by Veronica Roth could hold up to the challenge, but overall I think it did. I wasn’t bored, and while it wasn’t quite as fast or as light as Divergent, I found those qualities made it more interesting. In fact, the heavier scenes were by far the most exciting ones.
Now, I’m going to assume that if you’re reading this review you’ve either read the book already or you’re not ever planning to, and I’m going to discuss the nitty-gritty. Insurgent focused on Tris’ quest to uncover the information that the Erudite faction and Jeanine started a war to cover up. So there’s a lot of plotting, followed by breaking into places, and then followed by even more plotting. Honestly, it felt repetitive a good bit of the time, and by the end I was bored trying to remember who was currently planning a secret attack on who.
The best moments of the novel, where Roth’s descriptive abilities shine their brightest, occur during Tris’ time in captivity, as she’s being tortured and experimented on by Jeanine. What does it say about me that the torture scenes were my favorite parts of the book???!!?
I think the suspense in those scenes was at its richest. Plus there were twists I didn’t see coming. Peter helping her?! That was a good one. Especially because he helped her, but he didn’t pull a Snape and become a good character who was always just misunderstood. He stays weak, petty, and self-centered; but proves that he has some good in him as well. I liked the added dimension. And I’ll be the first to admit that I loved the scene between Tobias and Tris after they’ve both escaped and are safe. I’m a sucker for a bit of cheesy romance.
I wish that I could say more about this book, but I don’t really have many strong feelings about it. I didn’t love it, but I certainly didn’t hate it. It was a good read, I enjoyed it, and I’m interested to see where Allegiant takes the story, now that we know that Tris is descended from one of the people who originally set up the society they’ve all but destroyed at this point. I hate Evelyn, Tori and Caleb are both annoying me, and I have officially designated Uriah as my favorite character because he’s funny and lovable, and just a little damaged, which makes him approachable too.
I was disappointed by the lack of solid quotes in this one, but I’ll leave you with my favorite (of the few I highlighted).
People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you decide to trust them.
Well spoken, Tris, well spoken indeed.
Rating: 7/10
Overall Reaction: “Okay. What’s next?”
Up Next Week: Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Caitlin