The Divergent Trilogy is one of my biggest fandoms. Although the last book disappointed me, it was still well written, and the first two books were very good. Overall I found the Divergent series to be very riveting and I am glad that I read the series. And, as I do in all my articles, I will explain my overall feelings about the series.
One of the reasons love Divergent so much is because of the premise. It is very unique: the idea that humans have separated into five factions, each one representing their different beliefs (bravery, honesty, intelligence, selflessness, and peacefulness) is very intriguing. Imagine if we had divided ourselves according to our beliefs. It sounds almost utopia-esque, when it is far from a utopia, but the idea that we can try to separate ourselves from others to avoid conflict is very interesting.
I also really enjoyed examining the different beliefs deeper. Since the protagonist, Beatrice "Tris" Prior, spends most of her time in Dauntless, we get to learn about their idea on bravery and overcoming fear. It isn't perfect, of course, as they believe that being a daredevil equals bravery, but Tris learns that overcoming fear doesn't make you fearless, as Tobias "Four" Eaton tells her, it just means facing it. Though the other factions aren't explored as much, we get to see a peek at what the others think: Amity's pacifist life intrigued me, over how they strived for peace above and are neutral during war; Abnegation selflessness is something that I aspire to; Candor's honesty can be very blunt but also bears no secrets; and Erudite, while my least-favorite faction, shows that intelligence, knowledge really can get you far.
I also love the main story of the first in second book: being yourself. Tris is Divergent, doesn't fit into one category, and is therefore targeted by those who want to define her. But they can't define her, because she's different. I just love that. It shows how we can generalize people and put them into groups, but everyone is unique in their own way. You shouldn't try to put people into categories, because no one person is the same. We're all different.
Another thing I loved about the story was Tris and her love interest, Tobias. Tris I find relatable, because she is mostly trying to do the right thing but also struggles with her own flaws and doesn't easily forgive herself. At times I actually felt like I was Tris. Tobias is just awesome to me. He's broken, from abusive to neglectful parents, he can come across as hostile and uncaring, but deep down he is a good person. He pushes Tris hard, only because he believes in her. He's not the typical gentleman, and that's why I love him (as a character, of course. Tobias is very swoon-worthy, but he's all Tris').
For the entire series, I must admit that the characters do not feel fully fleshed out to me. As much as I love Tris, she feels a little two-dimeosnal at times, as does Tobias. It was very difficult to tell the difference between the two when I was reading from their different point of voices in Allegiant, which shows that they think a little too similarly.
In addition, the other characters don't feel too fleshed-out, and, unfortunately, not memorable to me. Uriah, Christina, and Peter were cool characters, but they weren't really given depth. I forgot characters like Marlene, only because there wasn't much done with them. With is kind of disappointing, because I really wanted to like them and see them fleshed out more.
One of my biggest criticisms is Allegiant and how they exposed the secrets we learned in "Insurgent". The whole genetically pure and genetically damaged plot line almost ruined what I learned about the factions for me. I didn't like the idea of how no one was really Divergent, but that they were just genetically pure. It didn't make Divergence as special, as intriguing as it had seemed in the first two novels. It also kind of ruined the other people who fit into the factions for me, to find that they weren't just doing what they did because they believed that way, but that a part of their brain was wired that way because of their genetic damage.
To me, this almost defeats the purpose of the factions. It wasn't just created because of different beliefs, but it was created because of this war that had started. While it was interesting to read, I would have personally gone about it differently.
And then there was the ending of the series. A lot of people have criticized Tris' death, but my criticism is a little different from most. While I did not like the fact that Tris died, I was willing to accept it--people die, whether fictional characters or not, and while it breaks your heart, I learn to move on (I did read "The Deathly Hallows", though, so I had my heart broken multiple times). My problem was that Tris' death ended the series. I had led myself to believe that Divergent's main theme was about being different, following different beliefs to become a more-rounded person, to fight for what you think is right...pretty much the main theme of the first and second book. But Tris' death doesn't resolve that. Instead, it feels shorthanded, it feels as if the book is unresolved. It left me unsatisfied.
This reminds me of a screenwriting course I took back during my junior year of high school, which talked about plot twists and ending stories. It stated that ending the story, the overall theme, was different than just ending the plot. That's how Allegiant felt to me: it ended a plot, Tris being ready to accept death and move on from life, but not the theme, which I had assumed was being okay with difference.
With all that being said, I still think Divergent is a spectacular series. It is one of my favorite book series, and I am glad that Veronica Roth took the time to write it and that I took the time to read it. It is a very thought-provoking dystopian that explores human nature, something that I am very interested it, and overall the execution was beautiful.
