Insurgent - Veronica Roth

GENRE:  Young Adult - Fiction, Dystopian, Romance
FORM: Audiobook
SERIES: Divergent

SYNOPSIS (from Goodreads):  One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

REVIEW:  
Oh the dreaded Book 2, how I hate thee! Let me count the ways:

1. You are the book in between, neither the beginning – where you are meeting new friends and enemies and being introduced to a new world. Nor the end – where the conclusion of a story is met, all issues are resolved, and everything is happy in the world….or it is not.

2. You are the book in which is most always the biggest cliff hanger – the book where you realize that you are invested way more than you want to be and instead of thinking, “hey, the next book in xxx series is coming out, you are constantly thinking…I CANNOT WAIT, I CANNOT WAIT, I CANNOT WAIT.

3. I think authors do this to torture us.

Okay, so it’s not all that bad…oh wait, scratch that. IT is. I actually have anxiety about reading the 2nd book of series (and 3rd if there happens to be 4 books instead of 3). I don’t like being held on the pin of a needle, and since you never know what’s going to happen at the end of the 2nd books – it just sort of becomes a love/dread relationship.

BUT…..Insurgent was not all that bad. I think one of the things I like most about the Divergent series is that Veronica Roth does not leave you foaming at the mouth for her next book, however #2 above does still apply because….you are invested. You must know what happens next. Insurgent does not leave you at the cusp of death or at a moment where you realize you accidentally stabbed the one you love most in the world in the chest (YES, I read a series where the 2nd to last book ended exactly this way). Thank you, Veronica! I appreciate not wanting to throw your book across the room in frustration. Especially since it was an audiobook located on my iPhone – that would have ended up to be a VERY expensive toss!

This time around Tris and Tobias gave me a lot of ups and downs that just weren’t there in Divergent. In Divergent they are at the cusp of attraction and new love, but in Insurgent their relationship has a bit more dynamic. There are many decisions and evaluations that must take place between the two of them. I think there were points when I felt that they were both unfair to each other, but I guess relationships do work that way, we overestimate our other half and expect them to be something a little bigger than they actually are. Another shout out to Veronica here – unless she does something really crazy in book 3, there IS NO LOVE TRIANGLE!!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! A way overdone story line, and it’s about time someone takes the initiative to do something about it! (or NOT do something, as the case may be.)

The action in this book was EXCELLENT! At times it did feel a tinsy bit reminiscent of Mockingjay, but regardless the action scenes kept you invested for sure! And of course there is the big secret of the book. I will say that I was expecting that to be something a little different than what it was, but I’m very curious to find out what they are going to do with the new information gained.

This next paragraph is going to be a bit spoilery so if you haven’t read the book, and are like me and don’t want to know anything about it – stop reading now.

The one scene I did not like, and did not really see the point in, is the one where Tobias takes off his belt and beats his father. It seemed kind of random, and really, really far out there. There were so many ways he could have proven he wasn’t a coward, but to beat him out of nowhere like that, unprovoked, was really weird and it just didn’t sit well with me.

Okay, so let’s go Book 3. 1 year countdown…are we ready?