Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent, by Veronica Roth, is the first novel in a new YA dystopia series. Roth’s is a solid entry into a genre that shows no sign of waning, though the novel doesn’t do much to separate itself from the dystopic pack and falls well short of works such as Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games (its most obvious cousin) or Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies. While it lacks those novels’ vivid characterizations and rich settings, along with their ability to equally satisfy both the Y and the A part of YA, Divergent does have a brisk pace, a thought-provoking if problematic premise, and a likable if somewhat stock main character.

The novel takes place in a city whose populatio... Read More

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent is the follow-up to Veronica Roth’s Divergent and serves as the middle book in her planned dystopian DIVERGENT trilogy. I gave Divergent a middling review, noting its fast pace but finding some issues with plausibility and depth of character. I wish I could say Insurgent showed some improvement, but I actually found myself less impressed with the sequel. It is possible that the book suffered in my reading it so soon after Divergent and so I was responding to the cumulative flaws between both books rather than simply to Insurgent’s problems.

Then again, that might be the case because Insurgent’s flaws are so similar. Once again, the characterization is relatively shallow. Side ... Read More