Divergent

I read this on a friend’s recommendation. I’m trying to read more fiction.

I enjoyed it. It’s a young adult novel, so you get the familiar tropes: adolescent facing a major choice, problems with authority, dark forces swirling in the background, a hopeless romance, etc. But it’s put together well, and the pacing is good.

It’s a quick read. My paperback was 700 pages, but there’s a TON of additional material at the back – discussion question, a Q & A with the author, the first chapter of the next book, etc. The actual book was just under 500 pages. And even then, the line-spacing is wild – the book is almost fully double-spaced, and there’s a lot of dialog. So, the book goes quickly.

I tend to look down on YA fiction like a snobby elitist, but I genuinely enjoyed this. It’s not going to change your life, but I’m gonna watch the movie now, and probably read the second book, so here we are.

(Update: the movie was fantastic. One of the best book-to-film adaptations I’ve seen.)