The world-building is terrible. Nothing is explained in a way that it makes sense and what little is explained could point to potential build-up of things... which never arrives.
The Outcasts (read: Factionless, because you need to use Kewl Wurds for the most mundane things) are the closest to being likeable in this book. And only because they are barely there, but also do the work that is necessary for a society to somewhat function: they do the driving of busses; they do construction work; garbage disposal; etc.
Beatrice (or, Tris, as she later calls herself) is a perfect example of Unintentionally Unsympathetic. She is judgemental, a hypocrite and an all-round bitch. And her upbringing of 'selflessness' (which doesn't come across as selflessness at all) does not excuse or explain that. What a horrible main character!
In turn, Christina (the token best friend) is the opposite. She is much more interesting and comes across the closest as a three-dimensional character with depth.
The factions (which I always want to call fractions) make no sense. And I will give them cheap, highschool names, because that's what they freaking are. The Idiots are supposed to be brave, but the only thing they are shown to be doing is reckless stunts that can easily (and sometimes do!) end in their deaths, because they were stupid, reckless idiots. And nobody gives a crap when somebody dies.
The Brains are portrayed as being evil. Why? Because they dare to be intelligent, seek knowledge and know how to do things.
The Tight-Wads are the supposed selflessness and get repeatedly shilled like they're the best freaking thing to ever happen, since the invention of breathing. Guess which faction Tris originally belongs to.
The Tactless are always honest. Christina belongs to them, which automatically makes them interesting. They could be interesting main characters: honest to the point of tactlessness, because that's how they were brought up. Not even a white lie, to make someone feel better, is done by them.
Finally, the Hippies are peaceful. They barely appear, so it's easy to forget they exist.
And picking a faction is supposed to be a big, life-altering thing and there's a test to pick what you are most adjusted for. But don't worry, you can just ignore the test result and pick whatever you want, nobody will stop you. What a dystopian, totalitarian, evil government this is, right? We'll tell you what to pick, but you don't need to follow us. Just do whatever you want.
Divergent: Piece Of Crap
The world-building is terrible. Nothing is explained in a way that it makes sense and what little is explained could point to potential build-up of things... which never arrives.
The Outcasts (read: Factionless, because you need to use Kewl Wurds for the most mundane things) are the closest to being likeable in this book. And only because they are barely there, but also do the work that is necessary for a society to somewhat function: they do the driving of busses; they do construction work; garbage disposal; etc.
Beatrice (or, Tris, as she later calls herself) is a perfect example of Unintentionally Unsympathetic. She is judgemental, a hypocrite and an all-round bitch. And her upbringing of 'selflessness' (which doesn't come across as selflessness at all) does not excuse or explain that. What a horrible main character!
In turn, Christina (the token best friend) is the opposite. She is much more interesting and comes across the closest as a three-dimensional character with depth.
The factions (which I always want to call fractions) make no sense. And I will give them cheap, highschool names, because that's what they freaking are. The Idiots are supposed to be brave, but the only thing they are shown to be doing is reckless stunts that can easily (and sometimes do!) end in their deaths, because they were stupid, reckless idiots. And nobody gives a crap when somebody dies.
The Brains are portrayed as being evil. Why? Because they dare to be intelligent, seek knowledge and know how to do things.
The Tight-Wads are the supposed selflessness and get repeatedly shilled like they're the best freaking thing to ever happen, since the invention of breathing. Guess which faction Tris originally belongs to.
The Tactless are always honest. Christina belongs to them, which automatically makes them interesting. They could be interesting main characters: honest to the point of tactlessness, because that's how they were brought up. Not even a white lie, to make someone feel better, is done by them.
Finally, the Hippies are peaceful. They barely appear, so it's easy to forget they exist.
And picking a faction is supposed to be a big, life-altering thing and there's a test to pick what you are most adjusted for. But don't worry, you can just ignore the test result and pick whatever you want, nobody will stop you. What a dystopian, totalitarian, evil government this is, right? We'll tell you what to pick, but you don't need to follow us. Just do whatever you want.
I repeat my title: This book is a piece of crap.