Review–Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth

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Allegiant (Divergent #3)
 
by Veronica Roth
 
Summary: The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.
But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.
Told from a riveting dual perspective,
Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

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Source: I won a copy from Anya at On Starships and Dragonwings!

Review:

How do I write a review for Allegiant?

In some ways, it was amazing. I loved the life lessons: Dealing with grief, forgiveness, love, and life. I liked the lessons about revolting, the consequences of actions, wrong vs right, and issues of morality.

In other ways, Allegiant was incredibly disappointing. I know, I know. But I’m serious.

When the negative reactions about Allegiant were going around, I was actually reading the Delirium series, which also has terrible reactions to the third book. So I started thinking that negative last book reviews might have less to do with the actual book and more to do with the fact that there’s an ending. It’s really rare that I dislike endings, even tragic ones. And that is NOT why I thought Allegiant was disappointing.

Allegiant had me frowning a little bit from the very beginning. I just didn’t like the way the plot unraveled. I was bothered by the big reveal. I didn’t like the whole outside world from the fact that it even existed to the struggles and belief system of it all. I really can’t explain the specific things that bothered me without spoiling major events, but overall, I felt like the rug was swept out from under the entire Divergent world and it was riddled with plot holes and science labs. My reaction to it all was just, “Ugh, really? THAT’S what this is all about?”

Maybe this is saying too much, but I just feel like certain aspects of the world and human nature were severely overlooked in the building of this outer world layer. To expect the city to embrace Divergence and consider the Divergent to be better in a world that’s so sectioned into their factions seems incredibly naïve, considering human nature and how we would and always have treated things that are different as bad, not good. If a society is smart enough to engineer any kind of sociological, genetic, or psychological experiment, they would not overlook that. It’s things like this that really irritated me when reading.

It was like.. at some point I just had to turn off my own brain and just go with the flow. Things started getting really far fetched and crazy. I felt disconnected from the story as a result, unfortunately. It doesn’t help that, while I’ve tried very hard to avoid spoilers, the reactions had me guessing/trying to figure out what horrible tragic thing was going to happen, so I was also bracing myself. As a result, I felt disconnected as well once the tragedy hit.

I loved the human dynamic, however ridiculous the actual plot seemed to me. Seeing Tobias question his own worth was incredible. Watching Tris and Tobias fight, work through the tension, and figure out where they stood was also great. As I said, Allegiant did a wonderful job with lessons about life and love.

And even though I was disconnected from much of the book, I did cry through the last few chapters. I loved the way it ended and the things the characters learned from everything they’d been through.
Allegiant both disappointed and impressed me, which is kind of weird. I would have given it 2 stars for the issues I had with the new, beyond the fence plot, but the characters, the way they grew, the lessons they learned, and the way the author wrote just pulled me back in just enough.

I definitely recommend it. It’s a must read, even if you just want to know what happens.

4%2520star

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