Allegiant

Title: Allegiant (Divergent #3)
Author: Veronica Ross
Genre: Dystopia
Rating: 4.5/5
Cover: 10/10

Contrary to popular reaction, I quite liked the ending.
It's such a massive spoiler, that I won't discuss it directly here (there will be some hints to it though, so don't read on if you don't wanna know), but can I just say that I found it very interesting that I asked a friend, when the negative reactions started coming in, if Four died. She replied "no, thank god. I don't think I could have dealt with that". So I just assumed everyone was mad because they broke up.
I really want to go back to her now and ask her why she couldn't have dealt with Four dying, but was only 'disappointed' with what actually happened. I don't know, it sounds wrong. It feels ALL wrong that if the love interest dies, we all cry, but the second the author choses to kill off someone else, then suddenly it's a crap book.
Naw, guys. Stop.
You're embarrassing yourselves.
Personally, I'd like to congratulate Ms Roth. The thing about her books have always been how emotionally true they have been. In a dystopian world, Tris shone through to me as one of the few YA MCs who actually reacted to the crap that happened in her life in a plausible way. There's only so many super-enduring girls I can read about before I start feeling like the most useless piece of shit for not being able to pick myself up so fast. But not Tris. She mourned, she grieved, she got mad, she went a little nuts, and she loved so, so fiercely.
So, in a strange way, this ending was very satisfying.
Of course, it won't make watching it in the movie any easier, but a good, dignified ending that did right by the characters.

Book Review: Insurgent

Title: Insurgent (Divergent #2)
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: YA, Dystopia
Rating: 4.5/5
Cover: 10/10

It took me a day to write this review, and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this book.
Insurgent starts off exactly where Divergent ended, with Tris, Four (sorry, I refuse to call him Tobias; he'll always be Four to me), Caleb, Peter and Marcus escaping the attacks, and if, like what happened with me, it's been a while since you last read Divergent, you might get a little confused about what's going on, but you'll get back on track pretty fast. The five head to the Amity compound, where the secrets and lies start to bubble to the surface.
Once Tris and Four leave, chased out by Dauntless-Erudite men, the book does not stop. If you want an easy book, with lots of laughter, look somewhere else. What follows is a harrowing tale of two adolescents battling to stay alive within a society that ostracises them because they don't belong in any of the factions. As the hunt for Divergents gets more and more intense, Tris and Four must try to discover who they can trust, who is telling the truth, and who just wants them dead - all while trying to fight the grief. Secrets are revealed, alliances are made, trust is broken, and one family is forever torn apart. The Erudite faction is determined to end all Divergent people, and with half of Tris and Four's adopted faction siding with Erudite, even friends and family may not seem to be who they say they are.

What I really loved about this book, was how Roth portrayed Tris. The girl is 16, saw both of her parents get killed for a "greater good" no one is willing to talk to her about, and had to kill one of her best friends to save her own life. No one in their right mind could blame the girl for being shaken. What I see happen so many times in books, and that makes me a little skeptical, though I've come to accept it, as it happens 99.9% of the time, is that the main character will go through terrible things - lose their entire family, have your best friend killed, be tortured, or anything else in plots, and then they cry for one night, and wake up ready to kick ass again. I'm sorry, but that is just not realistic. When you lose so many people, or even just one person, that's close to you, you do not just rebound that easy. I messes you up. And so yes, I understand Tris's trust issues, I get her apparent desire for suicide. I get it. And I loved that Roth put it in there. It made Tris more than Divergent; it made her human.
That doesn't mean I liked other things. Mostly, I'm giving Insurgent 4.5/5 because I felt that, while the level of depth with Tris was noteworthy, a few other characters were a little lacking, like Caleb and Susan.
And that ending. Holy cow, that ending! It's one thing to talk about cliffhangers. It's another to end a book with one of the biggest plot twists I've ever seen. If nothing else, read Insurgent only to marvel at the amazing skill that is that last plot twist of Insurgent.

Reading Tip: Free Four

Title: Free Four: Tobias Tells the Story (Divergent #1.1)
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: YA, dystopian
Rating: 4/5

A never-before-seen piece from #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth: a pivotal scene from DIVERGENT told from Four’s point of view.

Today is the release of Insurgent, which is already sitting patiently next to me, pleading me to start reading it with its' beautiful cover, but I told it to wait for a bit so I could blog.
Veronica Roth put this free short story out once she reached her 35,000 pre-orders of Insurgent goal (very impressive, Ms. Roth!), and in it, we get to see the knife-throwing scene through Four's eyes.
I won't lie: I love it when authors put out little tidbits from the male's (or female's, as the case may be) POV, so we can get to know and understand them a little bit more. Four's head was fascinating to delve into; he just got a 4/5, because, compared to Divergent, I felt the story a to be little lacking, honestly.
Also, and this is my own fault, since it's been a while since I read Divergent, I'd forgotten that Four's real name was actually Tobias. I don't know. Four just suits him better, I think. When I first read the full title, I remember thinking "who the hell is Tobias?". Took me some time to figure it out, too.
Still, if you're waiting impatiently for your Insurgent copy to arrive in the mail, or still haven't been able to go out and buy it, download Four's story. I guarantee you it is worth it. Plus, as the title itself says, it's free.