Book Club: Divergence

Before I had Jude I was an avid reader.  I could devour several books each month, sometimes each week.  It's much harder now to find time to read, but I am determined to get back to it.  I really miss it.  As a bookstore employee, I have thousands of books at my disposal and I want to take advantage of it.  So, I'm starting this "book club."  It's not really a club but more of a way to hold myself accountable for keeping up with my reading list.  I'm not much of a book reviewer, but I'll give it a shot.

This weeks book: Divergence by Veronica Roth.

Divergence is a young adult novel that is supposed to be the next Hunger Games.  It's the first book in the Divergent trilogy.  The story revolves around 16-year-old Beatrice "Tris" Prior who lives in a dystopian Chicago.  Her society is divided up into five factions that dedicate themselves to a particular virtue.  Beatrice comes from the Abnegation faction that prides itself on being selfless.  On a particular day every year, every 16-year-old gets to select the faction that they will devote their lives to.  They can decide to stay with their families, or leave their old lives behind and start fresh somewhere else.  The story follows Tris as she makes her surprising choice of factions and competes to become an initiated member of the faction she chooses.  With growing conflict among the factions, Tris must fight for her place in the life she had chosen, and hide a secret about herself that could help those she loves or destroy her.

I finished this book fairly quickly, despite it's length.  As a young adult (YA) novel, the language is not hard.  I often have trouble with YA novels having female leads that are absolutely infuriating or boring Mary Sues, but Tris was actually likable and had a real personality.  She's no Katniss Everdeen, but she could beat Bella to a pulp in personality alone.  She had real problems and feelings that everyone could relate to.

The storyline itself is pretty interesting.  Dystopian novels seem to be hot these days, and this one was decent.  Where The Hunger Games gave us only glimpses of the other Districts, Divergence actually gave me a really good idea about what all the factions are about which I liked.  The love story and friendships Tris gets involved in were real and interesting.

Overall, I liked the book and would recommend it to anyone who likes an easy read and/or young adult novels that don't involve vampires and werewolves.  I will be adding the second book in the series (Insurgent) to the reading list and will read it when it comes into the store for me to grab.  (The third book has not been published yet.)

Next week's book: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.  It's another young adult (YA) novel. (I promise, this is not all I read, but working in the kids and YA sections at work every day, makes me want to read what everyone is asking for/talking about.)

Read along with me and let me know what you think, or give me suggestions as to what I should add to my reading list!