Release Date: October 22nd 2013
Genre: Dystopia, Romance
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 526
Rating:
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Series: Divergent #3 (Review of #1, #2)
Summary (spoilers, highlight to view):

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Blurb: Not an awesome finale, but certainly not terrible

Review: Like most of my end-of-series reviews, I'll keep this fairly brief and spoiler-free. I was really nervous to read this book because it seemed like it caused SO much angst in the YA world when it came out. I have since discovered that this angst is primarily due to two things: 1) the slow pace, and 2) Tris' actions at the end of the book.

Neither of these things bothered me. I thought the book was "fine." I never felt like I was dragging through it, and was eager to read it. I didn't notice the slow pace at all, but perhaps that's because it has been ages since I read the first two, so I had nothing to compare it to, and I also read most of it over Christmas break, and so had big chunks of time to read. So perhaps it was slow, and I just missed it.

BUT, I can speak with confidence when it comes to the second issue. Tris' actions at the end of the book did not bother me at all because it was typical Tris. I felt like even though Veronica decided to do something fairly drastic with the story, she did not jump the shark. I totally believe that Tris, Four, Christina, and everyone else would have acted the way that they did. Does that mean that I liked the choices they made? No. Not even. But it didn't diminish the book for me at all because even though I didn't really like what happened, I felt like it was the right thing for the story. There was even sequel-phase in this story (which I usually hate) that felt totally natural and right.

If anything bugged me, it was that although this book claims to be "told from a riveting dual perspective," there were several times where I lost track of who was speaking. It didn't regularly switch back and forth each chapter, and Tris and Four have such similar voices, that I got lost quick. It would have been helpful to have their name at the top of the page or something, like that hilarious Brian Regan sketch. I should find a link to that...

Anyway, there you go. I didn't hate the book, I didn't love the book, I just thought it was a satisfying end to the series and I don't regret leaving it behind now. Though, I will go see the movie, if just for curiosity's sake.

Other Reviews:

• TBA (Loved it!) Coming soon! My school district blocks blogger blogs (except mine for some reason...) so I will have to add this later!
• The Quiet Voice (It was okay)
• TBA (Didn't Like It.) Coming soon for the same reason. :)

*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.