Welcome aboard the S.S. Young Adult Dystopia Overhyped Books where anyone can find a highly original plo*Warning: gifs ahead; prepare your bandwidth!*
Welcome aboard the S.S. Young Adult Dystopia Overhyped Books where anyone can find a highly original plot starring a weak-willed and misunderstood doormat of a sixteen-year old girl mixed up in entirely evil plans to leave her world in disarray.
But then after just a few chapters of underwhelming drama, protagonist turns into someone like this [image]
But wait! Out of the waters comes out a Greek god in the virgin, hungry eyes of the sexless girl. Ultimately, he faces the troubles with her and develops undying love--epitome of standard teenage romance. Him: [image] Her: [image]
BUT WAIT, THERE'S EVEN MORE! The once-tender heroine turned Lara Croft (or else she's under the illusion of) emerges victorious because of her badassery and quick thinking, no thanks to anyone who has helped her.
[image]
Feminism, romance, and action. Perfect, right? ... ...
Well, yes and no.
See, Divergent is made of these elements--elements that would make me roll my eyes to dear heaven, but I needed a light read and this was the one. Here's why:
Dystopian Chicago is segregated into five factions according to traits that one is supposed to bear his/her entire life. These were made in order to restore balance and harmony and rainbows and skittles.
* Dauntless, the Brave: The 'emo' and 'tough' bunch. Tattoos, black-themed outfits, piercings; you name it! One of their daily activities include jumping off the train. Yep. ~Intense~
* Abnegation, the Selfless: The literal fifty shades of gray--from their clothes to their lives. These people shun any form of vanity and focus on serving the people.
* Candor, the Honest: These are the jerks of the crowd and their excuse is their value of honesty.
* Amity, the Peaceful: Hippies, basically.
* Erudite, the Intelligent: The know-it-alls and smart asses of this wonderful hodgepodge of people, to top everything off.
So! Those five traits have been agreed on as keys to a perfect, united society. Nothing could ever go wrong, right?
Of course there's a ~horrible~ twist. In this book's case, our heroine. Apparently, she is a different kind from the others--she bears two or three traits instead of one! [image]
And she is what you call "Divergent". And she must. Not. Tell. Anyone. *oooooh* To add to this, the special snowflake has chosen to leave her old faction (Abnegation) for a new one (Dauntless) even though she hasn't a backbone!
To summarize, around 98% of the book is concentrated on Tris' attempts to prove to herself she can adapt to her new, hardcore faction. These attempts are narrated through Tris' whiny and pretentiously annoying statements ("That's my father!" I scream. "My father, you coward!", p. 244. Threatening, eh?) and self-doubt over her trainer/boyfriend ("Don't pretend," I say breathily "You know I'm not. I'm not ugly, but I am certainly not pretty.", p. 337 Whoa, looks like someone's fishing for compliments!)
The 2% is all about some power-hungry Erudite leader who made underground ties with the Dauntless to overthrow the Abnegation, the faction in charge of the government. The Erudite developed a serum to turn the Dauntless into mindless Abnegation murderers. Tris then takes it up a notch and somehow stops the mass control. All of this happens around the 400th page, roughly 100 pages away from the book ending.
....---FIN--- for the book.
When all of that sunk in, I just thought "Wow, look at all the hours of my life I'm not getting back." It was immensely frustrating because nothing was ever thoroughly explained--like how the factions came about; whatever happened for Chicago to turn into some kind of a wasteland--NOTHING. The plot was too hastily thrown together, as evidenced by the lack of strings holding together this poorly-strewn excuse of a novel.
Finally, FINALLY I am done with this sappy teenage romance book. Enjoyed it at some parts; blecch'd at most. It had entertaining value but it's just tFinally, FINALLY I am done with this sappy teenage romance book. Enjoyed it at some parts; blecch'd at most. It had entertaining value but it's just too raw and commonplace to leave me with a good impression.
~*contemporary Tagalog mode*~ Actually, matagal ko nang gustong basahin ang librong 'to. Laking tuwa ko at nahanap ko na din ang kopya neto nung nakar~*contemporary Tagalog mode*~ Actually, matagal ko nang gustong basahin ang librong 'to. Laking tuwa ko at nahanap ko na din ang kopya neto nung nakaraang linggo. Maski nang maubos ang pera ko para lang mabili 'to, keri lang. Tapos isa 'to sa limited na nabasa kong mga written works na Tagalog, aside sa Bob Ong at mga komiks tulad ng Pugad Baboy at Kiko Machine.
Anyway, sa kwento naman...Natawa ako sa ending. Pinapakita kung gaano kadiverse ang personalities ng limang bida, pati na rin yung extras. Di lang ako masyado naniniwala sa teorya na me quota ang pag-ibig. Depende lang kase 'yan. Pero I'm getting off track here again. Basta yun, light read siya. Pinakagusto ko yung kay Bessie, yung ikalimang kwento. 'Yon. Nakakabitin lang pa rin sa huli. Pero magaling ang pagfabricate sa bawat na tauhan. Tsaka hindi ganon ka commonplace ang kwento ng bawat isa. Mas nainspire na tuloy akong magbasa ng mga nobelang Tagalog na kasingganda nito....more
"But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated.""But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated."...more
I was supposed to give this a 5, but I'm still waiting for its sequel. LOL.
Anyway, JDatE! It gave a satisfyingly creepy vibe all through out the novelI was supposed to give this a 5, but I'm still waiting for its sequel. LOL.
Anyway, JDatE! It gave a satisfyingly creepy vibe all through out the novel, without diminishing its sometimes crude humor. I read most of this in the wee hours of the morning and even though I hate to admit this, it gave me chills and pull the covers above my head. JDatE made my mind race on thoughts about the Beyond, on portals from Hell and all those phenomena I'm paranoid on. But it was a good feeling; it shows how the author is able to convey emotions through the mere use of words.
Wong has taken a twist on things not usually discussed and created a modern scary story. I cannot wait to get my hands on its sequel, THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS: Seriously Dude, Don’t Touch It. And oh! I'm beside my excitement for its movie version as well.
A worthy successor of A Game of Thrones. The flood of more noble families and extras threw me off a little bit, though. Best parts of this book would A worthy successor of A Game of Thrones. The flood of more noble families and extras threw me off a little bit, though. Best parts of this book would be Arya's and Tyrion's....more
I enjoyed this with the only way to ever enjoy it: in a childlike manner. It's the best and simplest piece of fantasy I've read in a while.I enjoyed this with the only way to ever enjoy it: in a childlike manner. It's the best and simplest piece of fantasy I've read in a while....more
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