Book Title: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
Series: Divergent #3
Series: Divergent #3
Date Started: November 24th 2013
Date Completed: December 2nd 2013
Genres: Dystopian, Action, Romance, Thriller
Rating: Four stars
Review:
I really don't know how to start to talk about Allegiant. When I first started reading it, I struggled a little because I couldn't completely remember everything that happened at the end of Insurgent. And then I started to struggle because Allegiant wasn't quite like the rest of the series. I did enjoy it, and it was a nice ending to the trilogy. But I've come to love Divergent because of its absolute explosiveness (I think that's a word…), and I'm really sad to say I just didn't get that…epic feel to this book.
The video is out. The factions have fallen. Evelyn has taken over. As Tris tries to cope with this new system, it seems that she isn't the only one happy with the five factions being destroyed. The Allegiant want them back too. But there's already been one revolution, another one could lead to war. In an attempt to save the city, Tris, Tobias venture out beyond the fence, and into the unknown. What they find there; something they never could have imagined - and probably would never have wanted to.
The writing is very good. It's well set out and orchestrated so the reader can really picture everything that's going on all the time. The action is amazing and behaviour is also something that's very consistent with these books. The speech is interesting etc.
Something that put me off this time around, however, was the switching perspectives. In the previous episodes of the Divergent series, the whole story is told from Tris' first hand accounts. In Allegiant, however, it alternates between Tris and Tobias. This is all very well and good, until you actually read those chapters. There wasn't anything to distinguish them from one another, apart from the people they were talking to, until halfway through the book where Four started to moan about everything that was wrong in his life (that's all fair enough, but the Four we've grown to know is perfectly capable of at least trying to fix these issues). This lack of difference between the perspectives made it extremely confusing, and I was picturing Tris doing all of Four's story until someone actually called him by name. Another reason I really didn't like this switching perspective was the fact that it gave two dimensions to the story, that weren't actually carried out. The perks of writing in first person is that you don't have to think about what an event might look like to someone else. That's what becomes difficult when you have more than one character narrating - you've got to completely change your mind set in order to fit into your character's. Chances are, the first character is going to think like the author - therefore the second one can't. Every person is different. The problem in Allegiant was that I felt there weren't two characters and two points of view. It just felt like one person living out two separate stories.
I didn't feel like there was a storyline until near the end, where it slipped back into proper Divergent-style action and adventure. At that point, I really started to get into it, and I found it hard to put the book down.
Up until then, however, it was a bit jumbled. The story opens up in a way that makes the reader think it's going to be like Insurgent all over again, but probably with more violence and more likely going to end in everyone dying because they can't decide if they want factions, or a mixed society or something in between. Basically, there's quite a lot of potential there.
But then they decide to go out beyond the fence. Again, there's quite a lot of potential there and pretty much anything could happen. I was expecting them to get to a limit and then not be able to get out, kind of like the Maze Runner. But then they reach a compound, and they get bombarded with this revelation they could never have imagined. Up to that point, the plot is sounding pretty promising, and I was waiting to see what twist was going to burst everything apart. But then we stayed at the compound. And we waited there. And we got given all this information that was really hard to get your head around and remember. And that happened for a long time.
Allegiant felt almost like a narrated companion to the series, explaining in detail what's been going on for the past books and how it's been affecting everything around it and why it's been happening etc. And then we start to learn about these gene differences (I won't go into it, so as not to spoil it) and I realised that the book was almost a whole different genre. Previously, it had been a dystopian action thriller with some romance thrown in. This felt more like a dystopian sci-fi with a lot of plot set around what was actually happening.
When we got to the good action bit again near the end, I felt like we were back in the Divergent world. But I'm not sure what happened to that world along the way.
I'm not going to spoil anyone, but if you think you might be able to pick up some hints, skip this paragraph until you've read the book (unless you've already been spoiled, where you might as well keep reading). The ending (not epilogue) was really good in my opinion. I had finally gotten into the swing of the book, and I was really enjoying myself. I knew someone was going to die, but that was quite obvious. Now. I liked what happened, but I'm not as satisfied with how it happened. Maybe it was the writing, maybe it was the mood I was in when I read it, maybe I just wasn't that attached to the characters, but I didn't feel anything when it happened (and not in the 'I feel empty' Fault-In-Our-Stars way). I kept expecting something to happen to make it more heart-renching. But then nothing happened.
Finally, the epilogue tied everything up for me. There's always a worry at the end of a series, that there'll be loads of loose ends and unanswered questions. But I'm content with how everything worked out, and I actually enjoyed the 'twenty-five' or whatever it was 'years later' bit. I usually find these a little cliche and boring, but I thought it ended nicely.
I already loved a lot of these characters, but it was hard to keep up with all the new ones being added a lot of the time. I forgot who some of the people were as I was reading, which mades things quite confusing when there were bad guys and good guys.
Tris is a very good protagonist, and different from a lot of others out there. However, she annoyed me a little in this book. I understand a large and important part of her character is that she is selfish - fair enough. However, I only take that so far before saying that actually she's just being a mean person. And she turns into a mean person at some points here. I'm not complaining; this really showed how everything was affecting them and it was done very well, but I did sometimes catch myself thinking that actually she isn't always right, as she thinks she is. And other people are allowed to make mistakes without getting shouted at by her all the time. On the other hand, she was definitely a hero, and it's nice to see women proving themselves all the time as both strong, intelligent and courageous without being told they should be.
Four, in my opinion, wasn't Four from the other two books. I don't know what happened, but he's just not the same. I've have a couple of ideas why: number one, Theo James. There's been a lot of talk about James being cast as Tobias and some discussion about whether he's right. Personally, he isn't the Tobias I pictured at all, but I'm sure he'll be a perfectly good film-Four. However it really pissed me off that I started picturing Theo James instead of my Four in Allegiant. Or, theory number two, it's because of the P.O.V. Allegiant is the first book in the series where the story is told from both Tris and Four's perspective. I did not like this, as I've already said. There wasn't enough differentiation of writing styles between the two characters, and so it became very hard to tell them apart - and this therefore took away from both of their characters. Four didn't have the same personality for the mere fact that I don't think Roth was ready to write in his character; she's Tris. And she can write Tris amazingly. I'm just not so sure about Tobias.
Christina is amazing. I've always loved her, and I was a bit sad her friendships broke down a little in this book. But then her involvement at the end made me smile. (I know it's cryptic - you'll just have to read the book and then find out what I mean!)
I've always loved Uriah. Along with Christina, they're the ray of sunshines in the stories. I love any chapters Uriah's in, because they're just entertaining. And I think his main plot line was a little unnecessary. (It had purpose at the beginning, but at the end I couldn't really see the point of it.)
Caleb is my favourite character. I don't care if he's a so-called 'traitor'. Because, honestly, it never really came across that way to me. He's probably one of the most believable characters in the book to me, and I think he's a great example of development and independent thought. I was really disappointed how he was ignored for most of the book because of things he had done (that, if I'm honest, I can't completely remember).
Peter. I felt like he was there, so Roth had to do something with him, but then she got bored, so just threw him away pretty quickly. Yeah, I'm disappointed about Peter.
I said in the introduction that Allegiant didn't have the epicness of the previous books. Part of this is in the pace, which is something that seems a lot of authors struggle with - and fair enough.
The thing with this novel is that it feels like the whole point of it is to explain what's been happening the in the past two books on a different level to what we might have previously have thought of. I get that, but at the same time, there does need to be a story in itself going on at the same time. I didn't feel like there really was a plot line until around three quarters of the way through, when it started being apparent that there was actually a problem and a threat imminent of things carried on the way there were going. I completely understand Roth's intention of finally revealing her genius of the past books, but it just made the story…bland for the majority of the book.
Divergent had things happening every third second, and you honestly could not put the book down because whenever you tried to stop another crazy thing happened and you'd have to find out how the characters would get out of it. Insurgent was slightly calmer, with crazy things happening every thirty seconds or so. But they were still there. Allegiant had things every minute. It just wasn't really what I was expecting, and a little disappointing for action-junkeees like me.
I honestly did enjoy Allegiant, I just found it very different from the rest of the series, and I feel I have to point that out.
I would recommend the Divergent trilogy to any dystopian-lovers out there. It's also got great action and a good romance. Allegiant is the weakest book in the series in my opinion, but it does start to explain things for those people who like to understand everything perfectly. And it all gets wrapped up nicely at the end.
Image Source: http://static.hypable.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/
05/allegiant-book-cover-high-res.jpg
I really don't know how to start to talk about Allegiant. When I first started reading it, I struggled a little because I couldn't completely remember everything that happened at the end of Insurgent. And then I started to struggle because Allegiant wasn't quite like the rest of the series. I did enjoy it, and it was a nice ending to the trilogy. But I've come to love Divergent because of its absolute explosiveness (I think that's a word…), and I'm really sad to say I just didn't get that…epic feel to this book.
The video is out. The factions have fallen. Evelyn has taken over. As Tris tries to cope with this new system, it seems that she isn't the only one happy with the five factions being destroyed. The Allegiant want them back too. But there's already been one revolution, another one could lead to war. In an attempt to save the city, Tris, Tobias venture out beyond the fence, and into the unknown. What they find there; something they never could have imagined - and probably would never have wanted to.
The writing is very good. It's well set out and orchestrated so the reader can really picture everything that's going on all the time. The action is amazing and behaviour is also something that's very consistent with these books. The speech is interesting etc.
Something that put me off this time around, however, was the switching perspectives. In the previous episodes of the Divergent series, the whole story is told from Tris' first hand accounts. In Allegiant, however, it alternates between Tris and Tobias. This is all very well and good, until you actually read those chapters. There wasn't anything to distinguish them from one another, apart from the people they were talking to, until halfway through the book where Four started to moan about everything that was wrong in his life (that's all fair enough, but the Four we've grown to know is perfectly capable of at least trying to fix these issues). This lack of difference between the perspectives made it extremely confusing, and I was picturing Tris doing all of Four's story until someone actually called him by name. Another reason I really didn't like this switching perspective was the fact that it gave two dimensions to the story, that weren't actually carried out. The perks of writing in first person is that you don't have to think about what an event might look like to someone else. That's what becomes difficult when you have more than one character narrating - you've got to completely change your mind set in order to fit into your character's. Chances are, the first character is going to think like the author - therefore the second one can't. Every person is different. The problem in Allegiant was that I felt there weren't two characters and two points of view. It just felt like one person living out two separate stories.
I didn't feel like there was a storyline until near the end, where it slipped back into proper Divergent-style action and adventure. At that point, I really started to get into it, and I found it hard to put the book down.
Up until then, however, it was a bit jumbled. The story opens up in a way that makes the reader think it's going to be like Insurgent all over again, but probably with more violence and more likely going to end in everyone dying because they can't decide if they want factions, or a mixed society or something in between. Basically, there's quite a lot of potential there.
But then they decide to go out beyond the fence. Again, there's quite a lot of potential there and pretty much anything could happen. I was expecting them to get to a limit and then not be able to get out, kind of like the Maze Runner. But then they reach a compound, and they get bombarded with this revelation they could never have imagined. Up to that point, the plot is sounding pretty promising, and I was waiting to see what twist was going to burst everything apart. But then we stayed at the compound. And we waited there. And we got given all this information that was really hard to get your head around and remember. And that happened for a long time.
Allegiant felt almost like a narrated companion to the series, explaining in detail what's been going on for the past books and how it's been affecting everything around it and why it's been happening etc. And then we start to learn about these gene differences (I won't go into it, so as not to spoil it) and I realised that the book was almost a whole different genre. Previously, it had been a dystopian action thriller with some romance thrown in. This felt more like a dystopian sci-fi with a lot of plot set around what was actually happening.
When we got to the good action bit again near the end, I felt like we were back in the Divergent world. But I'm not sure what happened to that world along the way.
I'm not going to spoil anyone, but if you think you might be able to pick up some hints, skip this paragraph until you've read the book (unless you've already been spoiled, where you might as well keep reading). The ending (not epilogue) was really good in my opinion. I had finally gotten into the swing of the book, and I was really enjoying myself. I knew someone was going to die, but that was quite obvious. Now. I liked what happened, but I'm not as satisfied with how it happened. Maybe it was the writing, maybe it was the mood I was in when I read it, maybe I just wasn't that attached to the characters, but I didn't feel anything when it happened (and not in the 'I feel empty' Fault-In-Our-Stars way). I kept expecting something to happen to make it more heart-renching. But then nothing happened.
Finally, the epilogue tied everything up for me. There's always a worry at the end of a series, that there'll be loads of loose ends and unanswered questions. But I'm content with how everything worked out, and I actually enjoyed the 'twenty-five' or whatever it was 'years later' bit. I usually find these a little cliche and boring, but I thought it ended nicely.
I already loved a lot of these characters, but it was hard to keep up with all the new ones being added a lot of the time. I forgot who some of the people were as I was reading, which mades things quite confusing when there were bad guys and good guys.
Tris is a very good protagonist, and different from a lot of others out there. However, she annoyed me a little in this book. I understand a large and important part of her character is that she is selfish - fair enough. However, I only take that so far before saying that actually she's just being a mean person. And she turns into a mean person at some points here. I'm not complaining; this really showed how everything was affecting them and it was done very well, but I did sometimes catch myself thinking that actually she isn't always right, as she thinks she is. And other people are allowed to make mistakes without getting shouted at by her all the time. On the other hand, she was definitely a hero, and it's nice to see women proving themselves all the time as both strong, intelligent and courageous without being told they should be.
Four, in my opinion, wasn't Four from the other two books. I don't know what happened, but he's just not the same. I've have a couple of ideas why: number one, Theo James. There's been a lot of talk about James being cast as Tobias and some discussion about whether he's right. Personally, he isn't the Tobias I pictured at all, but I'm sure he'll be a perfectly good film-Four. However it really pissed me off that I started picturing Theo James instead of my Four in Allegiant. Or, theory number two, it's because of the P.O.V. Allegiant is the first book in the series where the story is told from both Tris and Four's perspective. I did not like this, as I've already said. There wasn't enough differentiation of writing styles between the two characters, and so it became very hard to tell them apart - and this therefore took away from both of their characters. Four didn't have the same personality for the mere fact that I don't think Roth was ready to write in his character; she's Tris. And she can write Tris amazingly. I'm just not so sure about Tobias.
Christina is amazing. I've always loved her, and I was a bit sad her friendships broke down a little in this book. But then her involvement at the end made me smile. (I know it's cryptic - you'll just have to read the book and then find out what I mean!)
I've always loved Uriah. Along with Christina, they're the ray of sunshines in the stories. I love any chapters Uriah's in, because they're just entertaining. And I think his main plot line was a little unnecessary. (It had purpose at the beginning, but at the end I couldn't really see the point of it.)
Caleb is my favourite character. I don't care if he's a so-called 'traitor'. Because, honestly, it never really came across that way to me. He's probably one of the most believable characters in the book to me, and I think he's a great example of development and independent thought. I was really disappointed how he was ignored for most of the book because of things he had done (that, if I'm honest, I can't completely remember).
Peter. I felt like he was there, so Roth had to do something with him, but then she got bored, so just threw him away pretty quickly. Yeah, I'm disappointed about Peter.
I said in the introduction that Allegiant didn't have the epicness of the previous books. Part of this is in the pace, which is something that seems a lot of authors struggle with - and fair enough.
The thing with this novel is that it feels like the whole point of it is to explain what's been happening the in the past two books on a different level to what we might have previously have thought of. I get that, but at the same time, there does need to be a story in itself going on at the same time. I didn't feel like there really was a plot line until around three quarters of the way through, when it started being apparent that there was actually a problem and a threat imminent of things carried on the way there were going. I completely understand Roth's intention of finally revealing her genius of the past books, but it just made the story…bland for the majority of the book.
Divergent had things happening every third second, and you honestly could not put the book down because whenever you tried to stop another crazy thing happened and you'd have to find out how the characters would get out of it. Insurgent was slightly calmer, with crazy things happening every thirty seconds or so. But they were still there. Allegiant had things every minute. It just wasn't really what I was expecting, and a little disappointing for action-junkeees like me.
I honestly did enjoy Allegiant, I just found it very different from the rest of the series, and I feel I have to point that out.
I would recommend the Divergent trilogy to any dystopian-lovers out there. It's also got great action and a good romance. Allegiant is the weakest book in the series in my opinion, but it does start to explain things for those people who like to understand everything perfectly. And it all gets wrapped up nicely at the end.
Image Source: http://static.hypable.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/
05/allegiant-book-cover-high-res.jpg
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