Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages (Hardcover): 526
Series: Divergent
Source: Library
ISBN-13: 9780062024060
Genre: Dystopian
Author: Twitter | Blog
Series Reviews: Book 1 (5★)
One choice will define you.
What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?
The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.
But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.
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This review may contain spoilers for previous books in the series.
Overview
The first part of this book was great nad had me eating out of the palm of Veronica Roth’s hand. However, by the halfway point I could see where we were headed in terms of pacing and I began to get discouraged. By the end, I was ready to climb through the pages of this book and mutilate all the characters in a fit of PMS rage. I was so disappointed with the decisions, the purpose, and outcomes. I can see why there was a backlash.
Review
If someone asked me if they should read this trilogy I would undoubtedly say, yes! If someone asked me if I liked this series I would contemplate and say yes. If someone asked if I were disappointed in this series, I again would say yes. When Veronica Roth released Divergent as her debut novel it hit the scene leaving a trail blazing behind it of awesome. It was the next best thing since The Hunger Games. While the hype remained in tact for each of the three books, the brilliance has faded.
The beginning of this book was fantastic. I was so excited to be taking the journey outside the city with Tris and the gang that I could barely contain myself let alone put the book down. I just had to know what was waiting for us. And what I found took me to a new level of disappointment. I was taken aback by the fact that within the city limits these people had no idea about the land surrounding them. When it came to light that they were unaware of what the United States was, I was shocked; I assumed that had been a given. They might not know what is out there know but surely they know where they came from. Regardless, I did not like having to drudge through an elementary level explanation of the rest of the country, its twisted government, and biased genetic wars.
Unlike any other book in the series this book is told in dual perspective from both Tris and Four Tobias This was a welcome change but not executed very cleanly. I really appreciated and loved how Tris changed fromInsurgent to Allegiant. She grew up, she figured out how to handle herself and her grief, and she developed a new foundation of strength. She was amazing in this and I am so glad she came back from the angsty twerp she was before. I also really enjoyed getting to know Tobias and being inside his head. This gave a depth to him and to his relationship with Tris which had not previously been present. With that said, these two individuals should each have very distinct and clear voices but the lines were very blurry in the alternating POV. There were several occasions where I had to reread passages after double checking the chapter heading to see who I was reading at the time.
My biggest problem with this book was the plot. Reflecting back, Divergent was full of intrigue and deception and it was powerfully awesome. Insurgent was just a lay-over for me in terms of connecting this series. But this, I had hopes for this and it comes down to America being Nazi-fied into genetic purity? This book loses points for its heavy descriptions of genetics, science, and continual use of GP/GD acronyms. This was a whole new aspect that had never been part of the story and it was handled poorly. The pacing of all the action was pitiful, by a certain point in the book you know the ending is going to be rushed and you’re thinking “How could this possibly be finished in 200 or less pages!” With that said, all this crafted action, tension, and intense plotting against the government the book just ends in this not-so-perfect-but-convenient ball. Sacrifices and decisions were made that had no outstanding resolutions and no evident spark of changing anything else.
Overall, I couldn’t imagine having not read this book and having the closure that I have now but in the end it was just another love affair that left me cold, lonely, and broken.
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
