Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Genre: YA Dystopia
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication: March 1st, 2012
Page Count: 525

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.

"New York Times" bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian "Divergent" series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

I really, really enjoyed Divergent.  I was a little late coming to the series, but I ended up reading it under the pressure of everyone and ended up loving it.  I thought that the potential that the book had was unbelievable and I liked the world that Roth had painted for readers.  It's a scary and weird world to think of having, and it was all so amazingly interesting. 

It's just too bad that my expectations for Insurgent fell a little flat. 

First of all, this baby is quite the hefty one.  I'm not at all bothered by a book that happens to be 70980 pages.  I'm all 'Bring it on!'  But in Insurgent, those 525 pages stretched.  I feel as if those 525 pages could have been snipped a little.  There were events and paragraphs that, I felt, could have either been shortened or cut out completely.  The pacing was slow, considering that this is, in fact, a dystopian thriller-action-adventure.  I was trudging through the pages, waiting for things to move on, but things were slow going.

Secondly, Tris got on my nerves.  Major time.  I hated where she seemed to be playing this unintentional game where she would antagonize Tobias for not being honest, and then they would have a little screaming match or whatever, and then Tris would go behind his back and wonder why Tobias didn't trust her.  If she really wants this relationship to work, she shouldn't be acting immature and going behind his back.  I mean, I didn't understand her logic.  If she were going behind his back, but not complaining about how she wished Tobias would trust her, then I wouldn't be upset because then I wouldn't be thinking of Tris as a hypocrite.  And to top it off, she was acting like a baby!  I understand that she's scarred after murdering her friend and all, but GET OVER IT.  You are in a situation where weaknesses should be dealt with behind closed and locked doors.  Also, it just old after 525 pages.

But other than that, I did enjoy this book.  The writing was fantastic, if a little extensive.  The plot thickened and Things were revealed and new clues and such were introduced.  There was plenty of death and action and flying bullets and fists.  The reason why I hope to forgive Tris in Book 3 is because I know that she is strong and adaptable (Abnegation to Dauntless.  If that doesn't scream major life change, I don't know what does).  I like the relationship between Tobias and Tris because they know that either one of them could die at either moment and they're real, not all lovey-lovey (though they were for a little while and it scared me), and then there was when they were fighting constantly and I didn't like that either.  I only wish they hadn't just dropped the L word after weeks of being together.

Insurgent explores the crumbling of a too-perfect society and the rebels that rise from it.  It's bloody, daring, thrilling, and epic.  Things were rough here and there, but this book is overall pretty awesome, and I hope that everyone gets the chance to read it because I do believe that this series is almost a symbol to the YA community or something.

4 Splashes