Book Rave: Divergent

Divergent, Book 1

          Looking for a series with the edge and heart of The Hunger Games?  You will find it in Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy.  While I wouldn't say the series is quite on par with The Hunger Games, it is certainly on the cusp of the next big thing.  Following the young Tris (who acts beyond her sixteen years), Divergent takes place in a dystopian Chicago which controls and contains its population into five distinct factions: Abnegation the selfless, Candor the honest, Dauntless the brave, Erudite the curious, and Amity the group.  When Tris turns 16, she leaves Abnegation and chooses Dauntless, undergoing a gruesome training.  If she fails, she ends up in the Factionless-the mysterious underbelly of the society.  Divergent is an easy read with lofty ideas.  Can humans really be resigned to one type of personality?  Are we not more complex?  The second book, Insurgent, delves deeper into the Factionless and the mystery of a city gate locked from the outside.   While Divergent was the stronger of the two novels by far, Insurgent left me ready for the yet to be released third and final installment.
       
           A movie is already in the works and both books can be devoured in days.