Author: Veronica Roth
Published: May 2012 (HarperTeen)
Summary: One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.
My Review: I had less than a month between the time I (finally!) read Divergent and when I got Insurgent, and that time felt incredibly long! I have no idea how you people held out for a whole year. I would have gone insane! But anyway. This book was definitely worth the, for me, albeit-realistically-rather-short-but-felt-way-too-long wait.
One aspect of Insurgent made me very happy there was so little time in between them for me: the lack of "infodump" in the book. A lot of times in series, authors will stick in little paragraphs or sentences here and there to remind the reader of things they've already learned from reading the previous book(s). I'd seen some adverse reactions about the fact that Roth was purposefully not doing this, but I personally felt like it was a great choice. Admittedly, the information of Divergent was still fresh in my head, but Roth also made a huge post to remind everyone of necessary information from Divergent, which was pretty darn awesome of her. I think that Insurgent was spared the unnecessary clutter of the infodump, and I definitely appreciated this.
Another thing I liked about the book is that I feel like we got a better look at the other factions besides Dauntless and Abnegation. I really got a feel for them, instead of just being told some facts about them and meeting some people originally from them. However, there are still lots of questions in my mind waiting to be answered! I am anxious to read #3, which is, as yet, untitled and uncover-fied. Alas. 2013 never felt so far away. Well, except when I think about the other books that won't be coming out until then. But I don't like to do that. Oh! And I just now discovered that Free Four exists! So, I'll probably wait and read it at some point when I feel in desperate need of a Four fix. Because it'll happen. I'm calling it now.
While Insurgent wasn't quite as riveting as Divergent, it was still a great book. I really enjoyed the continuation of the story. Insurgent really had a little bit (or more) of everything! Adventure was constant throughout the story. There were several things that made me laugh out loud. There were intensely romantic moments. I was utterly shocked a couple of times, and that doesn't happen to me a lot. All-in-all, I was definitely happy with Insurgent, and I have high hopes for #3.
❝Just the thought of saying the words out loud makes me feel so heavy I could break through the floorboards.❞
❝His breaths, my breaths, his body, my body, we are so close there is no difference.❞
❝I know that I am birdlike, made narrow and small as if for taking flight, built straight-waisted and fragile. But when he touches me like he can’t bear to take his hand away, I don’t wish I was any different.❞
❝We both have war inside of us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.❞
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I absolutely LOVED Insurgent. I thought it was a great follow-up to Divergent, and it left me really excited for the third book. And plus, there was so much more to love about Four <3
ReplyDeleteI think that the lack of info dump was a great element. I wish more authors would do it, and honestly if you look at it in the long run and not just release date, it works great if you are reading the books back to back.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed Insurgent! :-D
Very true! As I prefer to do that with series (wait until all the books are complete and marathon them all at once), I would immensely prefer that the infodump were dropped completely.
ReplyDeleteI know! The third book is going to be so great! And Four was, of course, completely crushworthy. Love him!
ReplyDelete