Book Review: Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth

Insurgent (Divergent #2)

Veronica Roth

Publish Date: May 1, 2012
Harper Teen
Purchased Copy
Reviewed by Mandi

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. This book review of Insurgent share my view of this book that’s full of thrill and excitement.

Accepting Her Divergence

Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth’s much-anticipated second book of the dystopian DIVERGENT series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature –Goodreads

An Easy-to-Follow Story

I was so excited for this book to come out. I absolutely LOVED Divergent and I REALLY enjoyed this book as well! The book picked up immediately after Divergent, which I loved because that means you didn’t miss anything. The only bad thing was that I hadn’t read Divergent for a year so I forgot who a lot of the secondary characters were and forgot some of what actually happened in Divergent. Lucky for us, Veronica Roth posted a blog giving the back history of the characters and a refresher on who was who and what had happened. I do admit, I had to refer to the blog post a few times while reading the book because some of the characters ran together a bit and I had a hard time keeping them straight. This might had been more due to me reading it fast because I was so anxious to see what happened then due to the story/her writing.

An Introduction About the Characters of Insurgent

The story picks up with Tris, Four and some of the others are on their way to Amity to take refuge from the Erudite and the Dauntless (Tris and Four’s faction that were used by the Erudite to wage a war on the Abnegation, Tris’ old faction, the one her mother and father were still a part of). You find Tris trying to come to grips with losing her mother and father and also dealing with shooting and killing one of her best friends, Will, when he was being controlled by the mind controlling serum. She really is more like a lost child in this book. She is reckless and has no regard for her life, which makes Four (Tobias is his real name, but he goes by Four because he only has 4 fears when put into the fear simulation used at the Dauntless compound for initiations) really, really mad at her. In all honesty, I got frustrated with her myself, I wanted to reach through the book and shake her to make her snap out of it. The book follows Tris as she comes to terms with who she is as she fights to uncover the secret of the Abnegation. The secret that caused the Erudite to start a war just to keep it hidden. A secret that can change everything they know to be true.

This is a must read if you read and loved Divergent. I am already anxiously awaiting Book 3 and can not wait to see how this story ends!