Review of INSURGENT by VERONICA ROTH

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

WARNING: CONTAINS SOME MINOR SPOILERS FROM Divergent IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET. OTHERWISE, YOU'RE GOOD. 8D

Once I finished Mockingjay, the finale of Suzanne Collin's bestselling series The Hunger Games, you could say that I was disappointed with it. The action and plots going on simply did not compete with the one I fell in love with in the original novel, and the second book, Catching Fire, was better than Mockingjay, yet paled in comparison to the The Hunger Games. Well, folks, if you felt the same way I did with Mockingjay, then this girl over here, Insurgent by Veronica Roth gives you everything that you wished Mockingjay ever was: an exciting story with politics deadlier than jumping down from a cliff, betrayals more surprising than your great-aunt’s big revelation, action scenes that were intense, and a riveting romance.


YAY!


Once again, we meet our main character, Tris Prior in another heart-stopping adventure. After her initiation where things got than more than out of hand and escapes the Dauntless compound after getting attacked by her own faction under the influence of the serum, Tris is forced to escape with her friends and her family, including her boyfriend Four—otherwise known as Tobias, but I'll probably never call him that—and try to figure out what to do in the middle of a battlefield. Of course, playing hero with her Divergent abilities is certainly the right thing to do . . . but Roth just piles up the stakes higher and higher, than just when you think things couldn't get worse, it does.

This was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting to give this book a four-point-five star rating, because I wasn't so sure whether Insurgent could top Divergent, one of my favorite books of last year. Well, guess what? In my opinion, Insurgent TOPPED Divergent!


Wait, what the heck are you doing, Wilson? Don't throw MY cards into the air, Wilson, you zombie-spawn!


First off, I'll start with the plot. The execution of the whole thing was flawless. The subplots didn't get in the way of the main plot, so it wasn't dragging. It was quite fast-paced, and my eyes were glued to the book, still reading even if it was getting quite late and I had only in the fifth chapter or so. Mysteries and revelations are entwined seamlessly in this novel, which intrigued me so. Trust me, the things that are hidden here aren't quite obvious until the last minute. And that's the part where you hang your jaw wide open, and scream, "Oh my unicorn!" Seriously, some of the things revealed will shock you quite a bit!

You'll also learn more from the dystopia-Chicago, which adds more depth to the city. While I thought that there could've been more revealed in the first book, there are more details added that instead of feeling admittedly, a bit one-dimensional at times, you can see different perspectives in the world.

I really like Tris as a character. She only becomes stronger in this book, and keeping my interest even if sometimes her decisions were pretty stupid. I liked that part, since that shows you how . . . human she is. Tris isn't some Mary-Sue wannabe, but neither is she an Anti-Sue. She messes up, but she has lots of redeemable qualities shown. She shows guilt for things that actually matter, yet it doesn't interfere with her bad-ass personality. In terms of development, she's definitely matured from the Abnegation girl to a kick-ass heroine.

Speaking of the other characters, they have more depth compared to the earlier novel. There are a few characters from Divergent that show up and play a slightly bigger role, and make you like them some more. The worst part is that a couple of them die, so . . . T_T

Four Tobias was also an interesting love interest. Is there angst in their relationship? Yep. Is it realistic? Yep. Is it annoying? Hell no! All the issues they had with one another were valid, and they didn't stem up from unimportant issues. Don't get me wrong, their relationship is still pretty strong in this book—in fact, there are a few steamy scenes—but Four Tobias isn't Tris' entire life. He does play an important role, but thankfully, the entire book doesn't focus on him. They went through a couple of rough roads, but at the end, I think they got through everything together.

THE QUESTION:

Does Insurgent make an awesome read?


THE ANSWER:
ANOTHER QUESTION

Do you want the third book in your hands right now?


THE ANSWER
In a Nutshell
Comparing Insurgent to Divergent is no easy task. However, Insurgent topples the book due to exploring Tris' world in clearer detail, and engrossing the reader. People will be amazed with this book, and almost certainly, Insurgent is one of the books you'll—or at least I—will want to read all over and over again. Five stars, no questions asked.
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