Divergent!!!!!!!!

[Condensation she/her]

Who here likes DIVERGENT!?!?!?!?

I do.

What are your opinions on the end?(plz use spoilers)

Opinions on anything else? Please, I want to discuss with you!

[Mist she/her]

Exclamation points. I see.

You should share your "joke."

Spoiler

Ending. Bulletproof vests much? I like Tris overcoming death serum. Make it a better world for her. It's not my favorite. 

 

[Condensation she/her]

What's 4+6?

Spoiler

4

 

[+ILuvHats he/him]

It's been so long since I've read the books, I don't remember any specifics about how I reacted to events, but I remember my overall impressions. The third book was definitely kind of disappointing. The direction it went was very different from the previous two, and I didn't feel like the switch was the best executed. And not just the ending, though the ending was the worst. It wasn't as awful as I had anticipated, because some friends had ranted about how terrible it was, but it felt like a very unsatisfying and not at all cathartic death for Tris. Mostly because the death felt a bit contrived. I mean, it's not like she had no chance of surviving. She was facing a wheelchair-bound, old man with a gun. Seriously, she couldn't dive behind cover or knock him off his wheel chair? But it's definitely not just the logic of it, though I can't describe exactly why it wasn't satisfying. That comes from only having read it once 5-6 years ago. 

I also remember not being impressed with the prose. It felt a bit like the prose of Percy Jackson, but at least Riordan makes up for his somewhat simplistic prose by excellent character development, especially over multiple series. Roth's handling of the characters went downhill from book one, in my opinion. Book 2 was still solid, but book 1 stands out as the obvious highlight in terms of character work. A lot of the problems could be attributed to Roth's young age when she published the first book. I think she wasn't even 20 yet? But the fact I haven't heard about anything else by her makes me think she was a one-hit wonder, and I'm not sure whether her writing has improved or not.

That being said, the premise of the series was very original for a YA series. The concept hooked me in book 1, and book 2 continued to be interesting, though book 3 lost me somewhere. Also, the character arc of Tris in book 1, while remaining very typical YA, was definitely enjoyable. But when it comes down to it, I think I prefer most of the other popular YA series I've read, with the exception of the Inheritance Cycle. I think Paolini is overall a better writer than Roth, but looking back, that particular series was so incredibly derivative that I don't have any desire to ever revisit it. 

Sorry for bashing a series it looks like you enjoyed, @Condensation. I hope you find someone else on the forums shares your passion for the Divergence. In the meantime though, if you ever want to discuss other YA series, I'm all game. Not to derail the thread, but what are your other favorite YA series?

[Hen she/her]

I read the whole series once, a couple years ago and don’t remember the ending much... except for... you know. 

I read the first book pretty often though, when I’m in between books and have nothing to read. 

Spoiler

I usually stop when tris makes dauntless, cause I like pretending it’s a happy ending. 

 

Edited July 18, 2020 by Hentient

[FantasyFanatic he/him]

So I read the book and I liked it a decent amount. I went on the read the sequel which just fell apart at the end. But about the first books, the ending was (in my opinion) very unsatisfying.

[Condensation she/her]

@ILuvHats, define a YA series. Can I have some examples? For example, does Keeper of the Lost Cities count? What about Cinder(by Marissa Meyer)?

[Karger he/him]

On 7/18/2020 at 1:05 AM, Condensation said:

Who here likes DIVERGENT!?!?!?!?

I couldn't stand the series.  I am sorry.  I will try to be concise and rational in my explanation of why and not hate on those who do.  This was for four main reasons. 

1.  It makes no sense to define people by one arbitrary characteristic. 

2. Their names are wrong(Abnegation does not mean selfless it means a denial of self.  A philosophy of self improvement based on avoiding indulgence.  Erudite generally means studious not smart.)  C. This is the one that really gets me a lot of the factions don't make much sense.  A dauntless person without compassion or honesty is really just a psychopath.  Why maintain them?  What does telling the truth matter if you don't really know anything important.  As to Amity.  Well meaning idiots have probably done as much harm as actually evil people. 

3. The Erudites are evil.  Intellectuals being villains is a pet peeve of mine.

4. The lead characters(especially Four irk me).  I don't want to go into detail here I have added enough negativity as is but I find him boring and kind of pointless.  Beatrice seems like just another Mary Sue.

YA that I do like.  Brandon's Starsite and Reckoners(duh). I found Mortal Instruments surprisingly readable given the genera.  Young Wizards is a personal favorite.  Also I grew up on Tamora Peirce and still remember her work well.

[Condensation she/her]

I'm going to try to have a rebuttal without hating on you. Not trying to give offense, I totally understand your opinions.

If you had read to the third book, Allegiant, you would see that there were genetic experiments, so some people were made to be smart, some people were made to be honest, some people were made to be brave, and so on. Divergent people are genetically pure.

Maybe their language is slightly different? In the book it says that the factions each chose their names, so maybe that's what they were trying to be.

I agree wholeheartedly, but the downside(in allegiant) of being smart is being vain. or maybe it was cruel. can't remember.

I disagree, but that's your opinion. No rebuttal here.