Allegiant By: Veronica Roth

Synopsis: 

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. 

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

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Wow... 

Did that just happen?!

I hate you Veronica Roth! 
Oh wait, no... I think I love you???

Wow... 

I will make this review short and sweet so that I don't go on for ages with the same thoughts and feelings as every other Divergent lover out there has before me.  

~Spoiler Free Review~

Writing: I don’t cry when I read. In order for me to cry I have to have such a connection with the characters, the writing, the world, AND the plot. That being said, this book made my dehydrated from crying… 

Forgive this total dramatic fan girl moment, but a piece of me just died. 
I haven’t cried this hard because of a book ever! I was SO distraught by Allegiant but grateful. Very upset yet pleased. Even, after some time, happy. I couldn’t even pick up another book for a week. Seriously… this was all I could think about. To me, all of the extreme feelings I have is a sign of some FANTASTIC writing. 

World: I have already gone on enough about this world in my other two reviews. I love the Divergent world Roth has built and I find in extremely believable and well portrayed. 

Characters: I LOVE EVERYONE! 

Except YOU Caleb… I don’t know how I feel about you… 

Tris & Tobias may be my favorite characters of all time.

Plot: Two words: Mind. Blown.

Overall, I understand why people are so upset with this book, but I get it, I respect it. This whole series wrapped up to be so excruciatingly beautiful. I don’t think it could have ended any other way. 

I loved this series, but I’m very nervous for Roth as an author. How do you ever beat the Divergent trifecta? My only words of advice would be to never write another story like Divergent or have characters like Tris & Tobias. Leave this territory Roth and never look back...

I cannot recommend this series enough. 
I want to read it all over again… 

“I wonder if fears ever really go away, or if they just lose their power over us.” 

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“I fell in love with him. But I don't just stay with him by default as if there's no one else available to me. I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or disappoint each other. I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me.” 

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“I suppose a fire that burns that bright is not meant to last.” 
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Life damages us, every one. We can't escape that damage. But now I am also learning this: We can be mended. We mend each other.

I loved it!

I need more stars... 

★★★★★

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Click here to see my Divergent Review
Click here to see my Insurgent Review

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If you enjoyed this then you may also enjoy: 

  

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Synopsis: 

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.

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Good. I will start by saying Divergent is better, more addictive, but don’t let that fool you.  Insurgent is still a very entertaining read and will not disappoint as so many middle books can do in series. Insurgent didn’t lull too much and kept me at the edge of my seat with all the action packed within its pages. I really enjoyed this read!

~Spoiler Free Review~

Writing:  Divergent was a hard act to follow and I went into this book VERY nervous as I wasn’t sure Veronica Roth, especially being a newer author, would be able to pull off an amazing sequel that Insurgent needed to be. Roth execution to this book was done beautifully. Just like in Divergent, Roth’s fast paced writing was done with such ease and great movement. Very easy to follow and digest.  I will say there were a few sections of this book that were slower but it wasn’t bad enough for me to have time to put the book down as the character building pushed me through. I love Roth’s writing and I really don’t think she has taken a wrong step thus far. Knock on wood…

I really appreciate the lack of a love triangle. I was grateful for this in the first book but I was so nervous a love triangle would emerge in the second book. Thank heavens this was not the case. I think love triangles can be stupid and immature on a story and very telling of an author’s abilities. Sometimes this can be a crutch to an amazing story and I love that Roth is talented enough to write such an amazing story without relying on three complicated characters (cough… Twilight… cough).

World: The world-building in Divergent was outstanding, and thankfully Insurgent just builds on that. This futuristic yet dying Chicago-land is captivating, exhilarating, and haunting.  

Characters: When I first met Tris in Divergent, she quickly became one of my favorite female lead characters of all time, and that was in just one book!!! I absolutely adore her strength, determination, fearlessness, and ambition. All of these attributes combined with good writing and a killer romantic relationship make her the perfect character. Tris, though she acts first and thinks later, was such a dynamic heroine in Divergent that I was extremely eager to seeing her unfold more in Insurgent. Life for Tris in Insurgent become much more complicated, which in the end just makes Tris more realistic and convincing. There is a certain level of hopelessness that develops for Tris and she just can’t seem to shake it, though she tries! Even with all of this turmoil and doubt however she never reaches that level of weakness that I despise so much in female characters. Never once in the book is she dependent on someone else even when death is imminent. Everything Tris thought she knew gets tested and tried. People she thought she could tried fall between the cracks and people she thought she couldn’t trust become crucial to her survival. I LOVE Tris, and this book just made my feelings about her more concrete.

Four/Tobias (insert lovey fan girl sigh here). I fell in love with Tobias in Divergent but in Insurgent I understood him.  I was able to dig deeper into his character to get a better grasp of who he was and why he’s the way he is.

I will say I feel that sometimes I was introduced to a character just to watch them die… BUT it puts the story into perspective. Some characters surprise you. Some disappoint you. Some characters you despise and wish Tris would off! There are just so many good characters and character development…

Plot: This intricate story takes an enthralling turn in Insurgent and there is a lot to explain. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the factions and the Factionless.  I found the rules that each group lives by and the dynamics within the leaders of each group to be super intriguing. Amity is awe-inspiring with their simplistic ways and absence of management. Candor is weirdly beautiful with their potent honesty and transparency. The Factionless are encouraging with their strength and determination for more in life.

Side Note: I love the cover with the tree symbolizing Amity

The romance between Tobias and Tris was beautifully constructed. I love that Roth doesn’t turn Tris into the typical selfish teenage girl who only thinks about Tobias. Things were occasionally strained between them but I think that’s what makes it so beautiful, so real, and so heart-wrenching. I was left completely satisfied with their love and how it develops into so much more.

I absolutely love all the action. There is obviously action in the main story-line but there is all this action on these side stories. SO.MUCH.ACTION! And that ending?!?! Damn you cliff hangers but oh, the feels…

Overall, Divergent was amazing and Insurgent lived up to all the hype. I think Roth has some tricks up her sleeve and book three HAS to be amazing… The bar is set high, Allegiant please don’t disappoint!

“We both have war inside us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.”

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“Sleep,” he says. “I'll fight the bad dreams off if they come to get you.” “With what?” “My bare hands, obviously.” 

Really liked it (4.5)

★★★★

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If you enjoyed this then you may also enjoy: 

  

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Synopsis: 

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

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Did I love this? Absolutely. 

Do I even need to review this? Probably not. 

As a self-titled "Book Blogger" I feel my spec of a page on the world wide web would not be complete without some of the more obvious reviews. So, here it is and I promise I won't go on and on. We all know what this book is about and if you don't, you need to remedy this immediately! Doctor's orders! 

I have read this series twice now and I'm sure I will be reading it again in my near future. I just saw the movie last night, so my thoughts on that will be at the end of this review. 

~Spoiler Free Review~

Writing: Veronica Roth, thank you for writing a wonderful book. I loved Roth's writing style and the flow from page to page. Divergent is a prefect example of how a good book should never end, hence two more books. Because of this book alone I will pick up anything Roth writes, ANYTHING! From all the books I read in 2013 I have to say that Veronica Roth, and her writing style, became a staple along my book journey. 

World: The world building in this book was spot on. The Divergent series is character heavy however the world building is, by no means, put on the back burner. I could see and feel the world. I believe that if any distopian author wants to excel, then good world building is crucial and Roth proved here that she could create a great foundation to build a story on for multiple books and even multiple novellas as people just want more of this world. 

Characters: Tris is everything a lead character should be. She doesn't whine, she doesn't complain, and most importantly, she isn't a victim! She takes her fears and faces them like a strong woman should! Her fears make her into this character that is indescribable. I absolutely adore Tris and she is in my list of favorite characters of all time. The same is true for her counterpart, Four/Tobias. Oh Four... I cannot get enough of him. Great character, great guy, great fighter, just great everything. Four is everything. Sigh... 

Plot: A lot of people compare this book to the Hunger Games and I get it to a point. Does it have a kick ass lead female protagonist who is up against a entire government movement? Uh huh! But that is where the similarities end. This story-line sucked me in from the first page turn and again in my re-read. This is such and amazing adventure of love and fight and passion and despair. Divergent has a plot that has been executed flawlessly. 

Overall, I seriously have nothing bad to say. I love this book. I love this series. I love Tris & Four. If by some fluke you have not read this then it is time to discover the next best thing to hit paper and form sentences. A fantastic journey through a unique adventure. Love.

“Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up” 

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“I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren't all that different.” 

It was amazing.

★★★★★

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Divergent Movie:

 I was very pleasantly surprised with this movie. After all of the Harry Potter movies and the two Hunger Games movies came out on point I was nervous for this movie. We were bound to get a rotten egg in there somewhere right? Wrong! I will say that this does deviate from the book and some people may think this wrecks the film but I understood all the necessary cuts. This movie was already long, it didn't to be shortened up. I was extremely hesitant about Shailene Woodley as Tris but she made me a hardcore believer. Theo James was unbelievable! Serious movie chemistry. I loved Four in the book and I was not disappointed. Move aside Peeta Mellark (I still love you)... 

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PS: I took the aptitude test and guess what?! I'M DIVERGENT!!!!

Candor and Amity, makes sense. I'm a terrible liar and I think I'm nice! :)

Take your faction test here: http://divergentthemovie.com/aptitudetest

Let me know what you got!!!