Book Series Review: Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant

Divergent – This book is a 10/10.

It’s better written than the Hunger Games and far more interesting. (my Hunger Games review)

The characters are more interesting and the balance of character development, plot, and fun is perfect.

It reads like fan fiction of Hunger Games written by someone with a better understanding of the human mind and extreme emotions. It also doesn’t base the entire plot on kids killing kids so it isn’t nearly as grotesque and macabre as Hunger Games.

Veronica Roth is witty and wise. She understands teenage cliques and the dichotomous struggle to honor parents while striving for independence and freedom.

She understands the impossible topic of suicide:  

"He throws himself off a ledge and Eric's calling it brave?"
- "What do you want them to do? Condemn him? Al's already dead. He can't hear it and it's too late."
"It's not about Al." I snap. "It's about everyone watching! Everyone who now sees hurling themselves into the chasm as a viable option. I mean, why not do it if everyone calls you a hero afterwards? Why not do it if everyone remembers your name?"

Divergent is an excellent book and well worth reading.  It is a very fast read and though the basis of the book seems at first far-fetched, it makes a great landscape and background for a riveting story.

Insurgent – 6/10.  

     It’s still a very fast read and well-paced novel.  The problem is that the author kind of loses her way.  It’s a little like Hunger Games Book 3 – when an author changes the world in which their story is written, it’s very difficult to know which characters fit where and what they would do in different situations.  To me Ms. Roth knew her characters fairly well, but once the background changed they no longer felt fully authentic and the plot got muddled.  I still read it in less than 5 hours, and I wanted to read book 3, but the fun and the intrigue weren’t as strong.

Allegiant – 2/10.  Yeah, this book has 3 HUGE flaws.

1.      VIEWPOINT.  The first two books are written first person from the female protagonist’s viewpoint.  Veronica Roth writes perfectly from the mind of a teenage girl.  THEN - In the 3^rd book the author changes it up so every other chapter is written from the Male protagonists point of view… and it fails miserably.  At least 7 or 8 times while reading I was confused because the “male” chapter sounded the exact like the “female” chapters.  His voice and thoughts and perceptions were exactly the same as hers.  Roth may develop the skill of writing from a male viewpoint, but she isn’t there yet, and the book suffered terribly because of it.

2.       MORAL.  This book is “the moral of the trilogy.” But instead of letting it play out through the characters and natural plot – the author decides to tell you the moral of the story, over and over and over again.  She slams it down your throat like you’re so dense you didn’t get it the first few hundred times so she must explicitly state it again.  I got so sick of it that by the time she reached the emotional climax of the book and I was supposed to be crying like a baby – I was bored instead.

3.       PLOT.  This book falls victim to the same problem that plagued the 4^th Bourne movie and Hunger Games Book 3 and so many others.  The author had to expand the universe to keep the plot going.  She had to say “but wait, there’s more.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.”  Then she didn’t know what to do with the rest of the iceberg.  The plot pacing is off.  The characters get confusing as she tries to keep old characters, introduce new ones, change their alliances, and change their personalities and character.

She also refers to things characters said once, a thousand pages ago, and she expects the reader to remember what was said, who it was said to, and what emotions everyone was feeling at that time.

 

The series is not worth reading.  I was told that by multiple friends before I started, and they were right.  The first book is great and well worth it.  The second book is only valuable as a bridge to the third, and the third is a train wreck. 

The best thing I can compare this series to is the TV show Heroes. 

With Heroes – Stop after Season 1. 

With Divergent – Stop after Book 1.

Hunger Games – The Movie

Was the movie inappropriate for kids?  – Maybe, we’ll get there.

Were the previews before the movie inappropriate for kids?  Definitely

Before seeing it last night I had read the books, I knew what was going to happen.  I know it is a story of courage and defiance in the face of a horrific death match for kids.  I knew beforehand that I would be watching kids kill each other, that it would be disturbing, and that that was part of the movie.

At one point I had to stop and think to myself – “Am I watching this like someone from the districts, or someone from the Capital?  Am I watching because I want to see the rebels win, and see the hunger games overthrown?  Or am I watching because it is good sport, and good film making?

I am now reading stories about “Is the Hunger Games film too much for children.”  The answer should be obvious – it’s inappropriate for kids under age 13 for sure, and for kids over 13 it should be up to the parent’s discretion.  There are some 15 year olds I would NOT take to this film.

Before the film there were multiple previews.  There was Snow white and the Huntsman, there was Twilight 4.2, and they were okay.

Then there was one for the new ABC television show “Don’t trust the B---- in apt. 23”
I had to sit and watch a “fuzzed out” topless woman on the big screen.  I had to listen to horrific sex jokes and terrible comments.  There were 12 year old girls and boys in the theater.  That was the time in the entire night when I felt the most uncomfortable.

        Hunger Games is a gruesome tale about an oppressive government that keeps the people in control by holding gladiator games for kids.  We know they’re bad, we know why we hate the Capital.  I didn’t know I was going to have to hate ABC or a “network television show” while I was at it.

Book Review: Mockingjay - The Hunger Games series

I finished the series and my first thought was…the author went overboard.

The first book was an amazing story, well written, engaging, and positive enough to get past the gruesomeness of the tale.

The second book had two purposes, to show the authors creativity, and to set up the third book - I thought it was great. I loved her ideas for the arena, and all the subtle hints along the way of what was REALLY going on.

The third book was not a good story. It wasn’t good overcoming evil, it wasn’t triumph over tragedy, or even victory over adversity. It didn’t show creative solutions to tough problems. Instead it was very realistic. It showed great plans come to nothing, it showed people at their worst, and it described in VERY graphic detail the most horrific parts of war. I’ll admit that the books portrayed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder fairly well. It showed what can cause it, and how it can manifest later, and carry on for years. So that aspect was well done.

The very end of Mockingjay was predictable, but the author had screwed up the telling of the story so much that it wasn’t even enjoyable. I wasn't impressed, I was disappointed.

If you’re going to write a story that’s fun to read…then do it.
If you’re going to describe the atrocities of war and the evil in the world…then do it.
But don’t mix them together...or you end up with a disappointing mish-mash of a series.