Insurgent was better than I thought it would be, though not as good as the first, so I lowered my expectations for the third book and will hopefully be surprised.

Read: August 14 – August 18, 2023

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia
Audience: Young Adult
Book contains: violence, oppression, death, major character death

Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca

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I Was NOT Expecting This Ending

Jeannine Matthews has been killed and the factionless have “freed” everyone from her control. However, now Evelyn has taken over, and the factionless are patrolling with guns. Instead of giving people more choices, they’ve taken all choices away. Everyone is factionless now, and if they refuse, they will be dealt with. The only hope for change is escaping the city to find what people remain outside the walls—the people that put them there in the first place.

After the reveal that the whole city and its Faction systems was one big experiment by the “outside people,” I wasn’t quite sure where the rest of the book was going. Obviously, there was the first rebellion against Jeanine Matthews, which ended successfully, but now they’re right back under tyrannical rule by Evelyn and the factionless. I’d say it’s better than The Hunger Games series, in that regard, since the opposing tyrant was introduced in book 2 instead of book 3; it feels more natural this way. (I only make the comparison because they’re both YA Dystopia books and are somewhat similar.) This book was shaping up to be another rebellion, this time against the factionless as a whole, and going into it, I had no idea where it would lead.

I scrolled through Youtube a bit to find a reader, though there wasn’t any but JayMarii Robinson (and other channels that reposted JayMarii’s videos in playlists). She did this reading about five years ago (just like with book 2). She still stumbled a bit over her words, but it was a lot less than the previous book. There were also words that she struggled pronouncing, like rendezvous and Bureau, but they’re French words anyway, so I understand that. A few chapters were missing in this reading as well, though the chapters were short, so it wasn’t a problem to read them on my own.

Seeing as it’s the third book in the series, it wasn’t likely that the perspective would change. It’s still first person, but unlike books 1 and 2, this one is from both Tris and Tobias’ perspectives. Each chapter is labelled with their name. Sometimes, it was a little hard to remember whose chapter it was, as they’re not always together (and mentioning the other by name). Plus, their perspectives are very similar, both being Divergent who transferred from Abnegation into Dauntless. The tense is the same, and the narration remains consistent.

Tris has been an excellent main character all the way through. Though she’s not the be-all-and-end-all character and she acts in ways that I often disagree with, I completely understand her thought process. The author has done a wonderful job laying the groundwork for her, as with Tobias. Also, though it took some getting used to, I was eventually able to differentiate whose chapter it was from tone alone (whenever I forgot and when only one of them was present). The difference is very slight, but Tris and Tobias have subtle variations in how they view and interact with the world.

I absolutely loved Tris and Tobias’ relationship. It didn’t overtake the story—first and foremost they focused on the mission—but the soft, romantic moments had their places here and there, and instead of the fast and loose relationships normally seen in teen or young adult content, they actually worked for it. They have their problems, but they both understand what broken relationships are, they understand the struggles their own relationship has, and they work through it. At times, their shared hard-headedness got in the way, but they always found their way back to each other, which was beautiful. The ending also made me cry a little.

Other relationships had their strains as well. Learning more about Tris’s mother was something I enjoyed, and of course, the horrid, toxic relationship between Tobias’s parents was a pain as always. Some people just can’t be reasoned with, and those relationships must be cast aside. Overall, I’m satisfied with how it turned out.

It's still an excellent example of Roth’s writing abilities. She gives just the right amount of exposition and explanation without it sounding like a list. The groundwork was laid out throughout the first two books as well, so any advanced technology they find is already understandable enough that my mind wasn’t blown. It’s like gradually ascending stairs, rather than rocketing to the top of a cliff (as I’ve experienced with other books).

I admit that there were times in this book that I was overwhelmed, wondering “when is this going to end?” as more and more problems arose. It seemed that every time they solved one issue, another would pop up, leading the plot in several directions before refocusing, and while this disorganization may seem like a flaw in the writing, it also made sense for the tone. The disorganization actually added to the content of the book, so while I would’ve preferred something with more reason behind it, I can’t think of any other way the story could’ve gone. The progression, at least, led exactly where it had to go.

Though I didn’t enjoy books 2 and 3 as much as the first book, this book’s ending was a pleasant (and not-so-pleasant at the same time) surprise. It’s something I’ve never seen done before, and it really paid off. I highly recommend reading this series, because even though it’s one of those “mainstream” books, it’s worth it. I just know that I’ll be thinking about dystopian worlds for the next three weeks at least.

I’m not sure if I’ll be reading Four as well (since it seems to be more of a “bonus content” book than part of the main series) but if I see it at the bookstore the next time I go, I’ll buy it for sure and see if I can fit it between other books. I’ll also be watching the other two movies (since I haven’t seen the Insurgent movie yet). I hope I enjoy them.

Related Reviews:

Divergent Book 1: Divergent by Veronica Roth
Divergent Book 2: Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Divergent Book 3: Allegiant by Veronica Roth
A Divergent Collection: Four by Veronica Roth
The Hunger Games Book 1: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Maze Runner Book 1: The Maze Runner by James Dashner