So, I work in YA fiction at my local library. Tonight after closing, I was moving our copies of Allegiant to their places on the shelves, and of course I had to peek a little. I regret that decision very much. There are some things that cannot be unspoiled...ugh. But anyway, is anyone anxiously awaiting the release?
It's really good. I'm super upset about certain developments in the last installment, but it's an awesome story.
I got Divergent as a Christmas present last year. I was really looking forward to it, especially 'cause I had received The Hunger Games the previous Christmas, and it ended up being the most enjoyable Xmas present ever!!! Really wanted to get into another YA series. MAY CONTAIN MILD SPOILERS: Divergent started out OK, but I was quickly bothered by all the religious stuff (shouldn't have been surprised, considering that the author dedicated the book to the 'Holy Spirit' - WTF is up with that???) and the obvious anti-science direction the story was heading in (creepy 'selfless' Abnegation would've made better villains IMO). What bothered me even more was the book's absolute idiotic premise and the really unbelievable world with those silly factions. It seemed as if Roth was trying to take the most popular YA series of the past years (Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games) and rip off elements from all of them: the factions and the educational angle were taken from Harry Potter (as well as the fact that the main character is "special - she is "divergent" after all), the teenage angst and romance with a "bad boy" were taken from Twilight, and the post-apocalyptic setting was taken from The Hunger Games. Of course, the book's main character (whose name I can't even remember) never got as interesting as Katniss was from the very first chapter of The Hunger Games, and she reminded me way too much of Bella Swann and all her lack of personality. END POSSIBLE SPOILERS I gave up on Divergent after about 9 or 10 chapters (and I usually always fully read a book) and I returned it (luckily it was an ebook from Amazon). At a friend's suggestion, I got The Perks of Being a Wallflower instead. It proved to be a great decision. I wouldn't recommend the Divergent series to anyone, especially because its author, based on her biography, seems like someone who probably donates money to anti-gay causes, like that Twilight author lady.
Veronica Roth is a Christian, but in her defense (and mine, as I'm one too), she isn't pushy about it in her writing. And she's also not anti-gay. There's a lesbian character (a minor one, but still) who takes a more prominent role in book 2. I think we need to be careful not to judge people based on their labels-especially here. After all, John Green is a Christian too, and he's an outspoken ally for LGBT+ causes.
Sorry for jumping too quickly to conclusions, if that's the case. Happy that she's not homophobic but, unfortunately, that still doesn't change the fact that she's not a particularly good writer, which is obviously a much bigger issue when discussing the merits of a book (this new book seems to be getting trashed in the Amazon reviews section BTW).
That's okay, it's easy to get defensive. She does have a repetitive style. I got the audiobook on this one, because the voice actors make it better. I don't hate it (I like the overall plot), I AM completely furious about the ending, though. :tantrum:
Hey! I just finished reading Allegiant. It was really awesome. I've waited for the release also for a long time. I can't believe you guys are talking about that, too. I love it as much as I love Divergent and Insurgent. :eusa_clap Anyway, have you read Delirium? :icon_bigg :lol:
