Beatrice Prior lives in a dystopian society that separates its citizens into 5 factions that teach their members to live their lives by strict, close-minded morals: the Abnegation (selfless), Erudite (intelligent), Amity (peaceful), Candor (honest), and Dauntless (brave). Each year, all the sixteen-year-olds take a test to determine the faction they have the best aptitude for. The next day, they attend a Choosing Ceremony, where they are to choose which faction they will spend the rest of their life in. Beatrice’s test results are inconclusive-she received three different results: Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless-which she must keep secret. Why? She doesn’t know yet. Beatrice leaves her Abnegation family and transfers into Dauntless. After re-naming herself Tris, she endures a brutal physical and psychological initiation process, only to find that nothing and no one is what they seem. This action-packed, dystopian, YA fictional debut to Veronica Roth’s new trilogy is full of surprise, suspense, heartbreak, rebellion, and just the right amount of romance to keep you reading until the very last page, and the strong, epiphany-like affect it will have on you forevermore.
I give this book 4.3/5 stars. I’d give it 5, if it came with a cup of Jo. This is a YA book, but it is written in a manner that could be read by older readers. I don’t recommend it for readers that are too young; I suggest being at least 12.
This book and its sequel, Insurgent, made me change the way I think and act. It gave new meaning to many things, and it will stick with me until I get dementia, if I ever do. Unless I become that lady from The Notebook and I remember things for ten minutes a day.
A movie is in production based off of this book, but the book is so descriptive and complex, that I’m almost positive they’re going to massacre it. I so dearly hope that the actress chosen to play Tris will dye her eyebrows as well as her hair, as Tris is naturally blonde. Although she still wouldn’t look like Tris was described in the book-as small and underdeveloped as a twelve-year-old girl (even though I know many twelve-year-olds that look very mature). One of the actors that was considered for Four was as close as he possibly could have been to how I pictured him, but they decided to hire a different actor. Maybe he happens to be a terrific actor, but the discovery was a great disappointment to me. I pictured Four as the actor that played Adam in The Secret Circle, Thomas Dekker, when he had spiky hair (as seen on the show). I pictured Tris as Issi (Isabel) Durant from Dance Academy, which became even more fitting to Tris in the second book, Insurgent. Not because of dancing, though.
Thanks guys, talk to you later!