Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
HarperCollins, 525 pages
Purchased

"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. 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."

After reading Divergent, I was so thrown into this terrifying society driven by factions and Tris’s own story that I anxiously anticipated the release of Insurgent. Insurgent was just as intense and wonderful as Divergent, probably even better, so I promise you won’t be let down.

The beginning of the book brings Tris's world into perspective. After the sad and tragic downfall in the last book, I honestly had no idea what was on the brink of happening next. Tris is a greatly developed character. She has plenty of vulnerability, strength, and is flawed in many aspects. I love each of those parts about Tris; she has finally grown into her Divergence and accepted that she is neither fully Dauntless, Erudite, or Abnegation. The factions are becoming more corrupted than ever and the resilience to not be so controlled by those factions is what makes Tris's character shine through. Although she can be stubborn, she knows what she values and does not want to hurt people if it's unnecessary. Especially considering Tris's last experience in Divergent, it's the only thing that is holding her back. Another one of my favorite characters of course is Tobias. His love and dedication to Tris is clearly evident in his actions and words. He, too, is strong, yet flawed. The mystery that lingered before about Tobias's character is now washed away and I liked learning more about Tobias's past and his reasoning for choosing Dauntless.

The pacing in Insurgent is so wonderful! Roth managed to give plenty of action, a lot more when compared to the first book. There wasn't a moment when I felt bored or that I had to trudge through to the next chapter. There was always something interesting going on that kept me reading up until I finished it. This book is also a lot darker than the first one, both plot-wise and emotion-wise for Tris. She is fighting a battle inside herself for what she has done and what she is doing. Let me just say that the ending had a HUGE cliff-hanger! I can't believe Roth would do that to her readers! It not only leaves questions drifting in the air, but it more or less ends in the middle of a scene and you will be dying for the third and final book in the trilogy which does not have a title or release date yet.

Roth has a beautiful writing style. She gives a sufficient amount of description without dilly-dallying. She gets straight to the point which is effective because of how many intense scenes there are in Insurgent. The plot is of course full of action and excitement. One thing I really loved about Insurgent was seeing each of the factions at both their best and their worst; or even in the toughest of situations, when some of the factions were forced to be brought together.

If you loved Divergent as much as I did, or just can't get enough of terrific dystopian novels, be sure to check out Insurgent. Roth better plan on releasing the final and last book in the trilogy sometime soon because I just might lose my sanity soon. (Who am I kidding... I lost it ages ago!) But seriously, read it! Just try and stay content until that unknown release date.

Rating: 5 stars - I loved it! Buy a copy!