May 1, 2012

Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Title: Insurgent
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher:  HarperTeen
Publication Date: 5.1.2012
Pages: 525
Genre: Dystopian
Series: Yes (Divergent #2)
Source: ARC from publisher

Rating: A

Summary (from Goodreads):
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.

Review:
I absolutely, positively love that Veronica Roth picks up Insurgent right where Divergent left off. There’s been no lapse in time (they’re still on the train), so we literally do not miss a second. There’s no three page summary of what happened over the last two months, the story fluidly picks up right where its predecessor left off, throwing the reader right back into the heat of the moment.

Tris is still awesome. This girl has been left reeling from everything that happened in Divergent, but still finds the strength to pick up the pieces are carry on. Four/Tobias (I prefer Four) is still as epically fantastic as he was in Divergent, but I wished there had been more alone moments for him and Tris. Maybe it’s just the romantic in me, but I fell hard for these two and was somewhat disappointed they weren’t together.

I am so grateful that Insurgent didn’t fall prey to the sophomore slump. Instead of letting her characters relax and bogging down the reader with a ton of back story and unnecessarily added new characters, Roth truly ups the ante. Yes, there is back story and yes there are new characters added, but nothing ever felt unnecessary or like it was there for filler. Roth has this magical, heart pounding writing style that just amazes me. I can’t get enough of it. She could probably write about a box and I’d be engrossed.

If you loved Divergent, rest assured that Insurgent is just as wonderful. There are many new twists and turns that left me gaping, and the ending makes me all more anxious for book three. If you haven’t started this series … I can only assume it’s because you have a low tolerance for all things amazing and don’t want your mind blown.

~*~*~*~*~

Join Veronica Roth (@VeronicaRoth) for a live hour-long Twitter chat celebrating the release of INSURGENT today beginning at 4:00pm EST! #InsurgentDay

Watch the livestream of Veronica's Barnes & Noble TriBeCa event today at 7pm EST
http://www.livestream.com/epicreads


If you're in the area, come meet Veronica in person!

Tuesday, May 1st 2012 – NEW YORK, NY
Barnes & Noble Tribeca @ 7PM
97 Warren St.
New York, NY 10007

Wednesday, May 2nd – CINCINNATI, OH
Joseph-Beth Booksellers @ 7PM
2692 Madison Road # M
Cincinnati, OH 45208

Friday, May 4th – CHICAGO, IL
Anderson’s Bookshop @ 7PM
123 West Jefferson
Naperville, IL 60540

8 comments:

  1. I so agree with everything you said! No sophmore slump here and I loved all the new characters. Great review! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm glad to see this book lives up to its predecessor Divergent! Sometimes when the first book in a series is really amazing, the rest of the series sometimes fails to live up to the high expectations. I have ordered a copy of this and it should be arriving soon, and I cannot wait to see what happens next!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tris and Four together just makes this book mind-blowing. I can't imagine anyone not liking this series!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can't make up my mind whether I like Divergent or Insurgent more! :X

    ReplyDelete
  5. Haven't read Divergent yet but it's already on my TBR list. I read so many great reviews about Divergent and Insurgent, though. I planned to read Insurgent right after I finish Divergent :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'd read anything by Veronica Roth!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great review! I agree that if you haven't read this story it is because you have a low-tolerance for all things AWESOME!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I continually hear good things about this series. Once I finish the Hunger Games trilogy, I may need to make this my next venture into YA dystopia.

    ReplyDelete

I hope you know that every time you comment, an angel gets its wings.

OK, not really, but thanks for popping by!