DIVERGENT Book Review

Divergent¹ (book 1 in Divergent series) by Veronica Roth, audiobook, 11h 11m

Synopsis from Goodreads: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . .or it might destroy her.

BOOK REVIEW: I fell in love with the book series when it was being written and of course had to see the movies and also fell in love with the movies. It's been a long time since I've read the book so it was like reading it for the first time...or listening to it I should say. I am really glad that I listened to it this time because the narrator did a great job. I actually ended up listening to it at 1.2x speed by accident and it actually sounded like I was listening to it at regular speed. There was also something about the narrator's voice that sounds familiar. It's an actress and her face is just out of reach when I try to see it.

Now I have seen the movie so many times that I actually forgot that there are quite a few differences. The main one is when the new transfer initiates are first eating together in Dauntless they keep referring to themselves by their old factions and it gets shut down real fast however in the book it continues all the way up through the final phase and then even a little beyond. It feels significant and I want to listen to the other books in the series to refresh my memory but that's gonna have to wait a minute!

Overall this held up and is a 5 star for me. I love these types of dystopian books and I love that it takes place in Chicago. I haven't spent a lot of time in Chicago but it is one of my favorite cities that I've been able to visit. The story and characters are wonderfully written and the narrator did an amazing job bringing them to life. I think one of the best things now is that I have the cast from the movies in my head as I listened to this so even though it was the narrator saying the words I could hear the actors in my head. Also I just realized it is the actress Holly Hunter who the narrator sounds like. I finally figured it out after 11 hours of listening to the book and thinking about it constantly! Anyway, it's a great book with fantastic dialogue and scene descriptions. No cringy male voices from the female narrator. Definitely give it a listen!

5/5 Stars

2026 Reading Challenge: 10/55 complete ¹This is an affiliate link through Bookshop.org which supports independent bookstores nationwide. Pick a bookshop you choose to support and when you order a book, the proceeds go to that store! Books are sent from a main distribution center so if you don't know what store to support, it's okay. All orders not supporting a specific shop go into a pool that gets divided among all the stores listed on the site!