Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Hardcover, 525 pages
Expected Publication: May 1, 2012 by HarperTeen

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#TeamCandor!

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.

It’s been nearly a year since I read Divergent. I’ve read quite a few books since then, so I will admit, the details became a bit hazy, and I started to forget why I loved it so much. We were suddenly doing all this promoting (and by we I mean a massive chunk of the blogging community) and I was personally looking around and thinking, “Wait…was it THAT good? Is it really worth all of this?” I started to feel like it was overrated. So when I started reading Insurgent, I went in expecting to be disappointed. I thought I had psyched myself up about a book that wasn’t as great as I remembered it being.

I was so wrong.  The world in Divergent and Insurgent is not overhyped. I wasn’t psyched up over nothing. It really is that good. I really do love it as much as I thought I did. When I closed Insurgent I was left with that same “wow” feeling that Divergent left me with. It isn’t the romance that does it for me, it’s this world Roth has built. It amazes me, and I know this is going to sound snobby, but it is just a rare thing to find in the YA genre. Young adult is my favorite, but it’s still rare that I get this feeling from a YA book. I feel like, the way others may feel about The Hunger Games or Twilight is how I feel about Divergent and Insurgent.

I did get a feeling from time to time that Tobias and Tris had changed too much, and I was actually glad Roth doesn’t make the romance the center focus. They really annoyed me. There is too much going on in this world, too many secrets and too much action for the romance to be all that matters. I love that at the end of the day, it takes a back burner. It’s always there, but it isn’t overwhelming. If it hadn’t been this way, I may not have enjoyed Insurgent as much.

The ending kills. There were two aspects that we didn’t really get to see in Divergent that I was hoping we would eventually get a taste of. One of those things comes to play a crucial role in Insurgent (yay) and the ending of Insurgent basically promises the other will come into play in the next installment (double yay!).  Tris and Tobias may have gotten on my nerves from time to time, but I’m telling you, at this point I don’t even care. I love this series too much to care, and I’m too excited for the next installment to fret on their moments of weakness.

It goes without saying, Insurgent exceeded my expectations!

5 out 5 Stars!