Annie

I quite enjoyed this book. I finished it in a few days and I've started the second in the series. It's pretty standard YA strong female first-person fare, but what sets Divergent apart is the world that Veronica Roth has created. Sure, one can draw up parallels to Hunger Games (which many consider a rip off of Battle Royale)dystopic future world, factionized societies, etc, but while Hunger Games is vague, Divergent sets itself up in the heart of Chicago, a warning to us from the future of what might come to our society.
I like that while the story is societally futuristic, not much else is far beyond the realm of current science and technology. It is easy to see how this world came to be.
For me to keep reading I don't necessarily have to feel a kinship with the characters or even be invested in them (I spent much of HG wanting to smack Katniss across the face) but I have to be interested in the world in which they live-is it complete? Can I imagine myself living there? Are there weaknesses to the world they've created? In Divergent, it's Chicago, my home town, so I'm already invested, but the world created by Roth is quite complete-at least within the confines of the city. It doesn't feel contrived that the protagonist, Tris doesn't know, since the city and its factions are very insular. I do find myself wonder what is going on elsewhere in the world, hoping that the sequels will satisfy this question.
We follow Tris through her journey from choosing a faction, to initiate and after. I'm being purposefully vague about this. If you want to know I don't want to ruin your excitement when you are about to discover it in the book. On the whole, Tris is very human and likeable for it. Even she wonders about her thoughts and actions, which makes her more likable than other characters in other books.
I won't go into any more, but I did enjoy the first book enough to purchase book 2 right after finishing. I just had to know what will happen next. Sure some of the book is heavy with foreshadowing and a good reader can see some things coming, but they aren't blatant to the point where you are bored by the time they happen. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes post-apocalyptic worlds, societal struggles and general YA science fiction.

Fair Warning, I've been a Hillary fan for over 20 years. Still, she continues to amaze me with her incisive and thoughtful writing. This book is probably the best breakdown of the 2016 campaign and election from someone with intimate knowledge. Many of the events she discusses in the book, which at the time of writing were speculations based on her experience, have proven true. This is a candid and insightful look at one of the most fraught election cycles the United States has ever had, and one that we will be feeling the sting of for some time. Clinton knew it, she knew the stakes of this election, she tried to warn us, but we didn't listen.

A solid YA read. It's not high art literature, but better than some (most) of the YA lit out there now. The world created in this series is engaging and doesn't feel hokey. I also really like that the main character is male. Often with YA novels the first person protagonist is female, so this is a nice change of pace, in my opinion.