Monday, June 11, 2012

Insurgent (YA)

Insurgent. Veronica Roth. 2012. HarperCollins. 525 pages.

 I absolutely LOVED Veronica Roth's Divergent. I just LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. I recently reread it too just to prepare myself for reading the sequel, Insurgent. So how do the two compare? Well, I'm not sure that's ever a fair question. The better question may be did I love it? And the answer to that one is much, much easier! Yes, I loved Insurgent. Now does loving it translate into just love or love, love, love? Only time will tell.

Insurgent starts right where Divergent left off, which was great for me since I'd just read Divergent. Beatrice (Tris) is on the run with a handful of people including her boyfriend, Four, and her brother, Caleb. But among this group of survivors are a few people Tris doesn't trust or exactly like. They are seeking refuge with Amity unsure of their welcome. Well, unsure of how long-term this welcome will be. Amity is the kind of faction that gets along with everyone no matter how good or bad. But Tris and Four are almost sure that they cannot stay with Amity, they still have unfinished business.

While Insurgent definitely introduces new business--new dangers, new threats, new risks, etc--it does a great job in terms of consequences. Tris and Four (and the others) have a big, big mess to deal with. Many people have lost loved ones, many have lost homes, all have lost security. Tris' losses are monumental. She has lost both parents, parents with secrets that are only now coming to light, and she's dealing with her choices. Specifically her choice that led to a former friend, a close friend, losing his life. She is HAUNTED, beyond haunted almost, by what she has done.

But there is no time for Tris to relax, not really, for every day brings more decisions. Tris is having to make some tough, tough decisions; decisions that will impact not only her life, not only her relationship with her boyfriend, but will impact potentially everyone. And she struggles with the weight of it all. Does she have the right to think for herself? Does she have the right to disagree with the leaders? With the leaders of her own faction? Does she have the right to question people she's been told are trustworthy? How does she know who to trust?

I definitely loved this one! And I loved getting to know the characters. I loved the world-building, getting a chance to learn more about the other factions and the factionless too.

Read Insurgent
  • If you loved Divergent, or, even if you just liked Divergent
  • If you enjoy science fiction and dystopias
  • If you like dystopias with good world-building and a little romance too
© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

4 comments:

Christina T said...

I still haven't read this one and I'm looking forward to learning about the other factions. I wonder if I will find this book similar to Mockingjay in terms of the tone of the book.

I'm glad you loved this book. I think it is hard for middle books in series to live up to the first book but so far I've only seen positive reviews of Insurgent.

bookaholicsxoxo said...

I too love this series..it even makes me sad that we have to wait to read the next one..idk if I can wait a year??? :( hahaha but I do love this series maybe even possibly obsessed :)

Sally said...

Just started Insurgent yesterday - won't read your review until I'm finished - don't want any spoilers.
I won a ARC of Insurgent - started it, and HAD to download Divergent. Glad I did, really loved Divergent.

sally apokedak said...

Hmm. So maybe I need to read Divergent again and then try Insurgent. I started Insurgent the week it came out and I couldn't get into it. I was so confused. I couldn't remember who the people were and she didn't set any scene for me. I was pretty frustrated.

But now I have hope. I'm going to read Divergent over and then try Insurgent. My daughter and her friends loved it, but they had all read Divergent more recently than I had.

I can't believe you read so many books every month. I'm putting out a newsletter twice a year, highlighting my favorite books (giving away a kindle fire twice a year, too). I'll be reading your reviews to get ideas of which books I should read. Thanks!

And do you ever consider selling advertising on your blog?