Book Talk Tuesday

Over the last few weeks, I've read the Divergent series books...Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant.  I have to admit that I devoured these books.  I couldn't put them down...until about the last 100 or so pages of each one.  I found that I was deliberately slowing down because I didn't want them to end.

This series is by far a favorite of mine now.  Better even than Hunger Games or Twilight.  The love triangle in both of those series just wore me out.  Instead of the stuggle with which guy do I love, the struggle was with Tris (the main character) and who she felt that she truly was.

The series is set in a post apocolyptic Chicago.  Humanity has crumbled and in an attempt for peace, the people are separated into five factions based on particular virtues...Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful) and Erudite (the intelligent).  Each faction is needed for the societies success, but by separating them, the hope is that peace will easier obtained.  At the age of 16, each member is given the chance to choose which faction they will join.  Once chosen, they must say goodbye to their family and start the initiation process.  If they don't succeed in initiation or realize they made a wrong choice, they will live out the rest of their lives factionless.

The main character, Beatrice Prior, has grown up in Abnegation, but never felt like she selfless enough to truly belong.  At her chosing ceremony, she choses to be true to herself rather than stay with her family and she becomes Dauntless.  Changing her name to Tris, the initiation for Dauntless is harder than she realized and she fears she will become factionless in the end, as only the top 10% of the initiation class will be welcomed in to Dauntless.

All three books kept me engaged and wanting to know what was going to happen.  I was also thrilled by the movie.  It is true to the book and brought to life what I had imagined in my head as I was reading it.

I highly, highly recommend this series.  I have no doubt I will read it more than once.