Insurgent

I absolutely loved Divergent, the first novel in Veronica Roth's dystopian trilogy but then I also felt the same way about The Hunger Games and then became just that little bit more disappointed as the series unfolded. I truly hoped that Insurgent would grow in story and strength and drive me to the last book in the series. I was to be honest a little bit disappointed.

Firstly there is no gentle lead into the book, it dives straight in with no recap of the events of Book 1, which means if like me you've had a break between books you may need to recap on who's who in the surrounding characters. This meant I spent the first chapter or so trying to reestablish my understanding of who did what to whom and where allegiances lay.

Secondly I really went off the Hunger Games series when it became too military in it's nature, all guns and war and fighting and unfortunately Insurgent suffers this same fate. The book is truly just one big series of people picking sides, deciding who will fight who and then people getting shot/injured/captured, delete as appropriate. There were pages where I'd find my mind wandering as Tris suffered yet more angst about who she was shooting, how this tore her apart and what faction she was aligning herself to now. Then I'd snap back to focus and find I hadn't missed that much.

The book had some redeeming features, it had a brilliant ending that has left me with enough curiosity to read book 3 because I do need to know more about how the series will conclude. Also some of the quieter moments of the book when we stop talking about guns, fighting and war for a few pages and focus on life inside the factions are actually quite nice. It's a shame that more time wasn't spent on this instead of the ongoing dramas between Tris & Tobias.

It is clear we are reading a Young Adult novel as the constant need for them to stop all action as soon as they get even remotely intimate is really annoying. It makes their relationship feel transient and less important, like they just skirt around each other and moon around in the middle of a huge war whilst failing to move their relationship beyond petty squabbles and lack of trust.

It is a 3 out of 5 book but only just, I give it this mark in hope that book 3 will make the drawn out nature of this book apparent by explaining why it had to be written the way Roth did. Too much action and not enough emotive writing means it fell short of expectation.

I read this book in two days. I lost sleep over this book. It's been a LONG time since I've let that happen. Parts of it really frustrated me, but I couldn't put it down. There were many times I didn't agree with Tris, but that's why I'm not her. I loved the action. As the second novel, I thought it held up really well to the first. Waiting to get the third book is driving me crazy.

Um. Hm.This wasn't as good as I was hoping for, and its a little hard to put my finger on why. I was just not nearly as into it as I was with Divergent.As promised, the setting was fleshed out a lot more and we learned about what it means to be Divergent down to a technical level. However, instead of making the world-building feel more solid it actually kind of did the opposite. I found myself getting really frustrated with the societal structure, particularly as they were going to war. It seemed really strange that the faction of the brave that should be breeding soldiers had no idea how to actually fight a war. Sparta this is not.Which kind of built a problem with Tris and where she fit in the world. See, the way I see it, Tris is a soldier. She's willing to do what it takes to get the job done. The whole self-sacrifice thing didn't really seem that weird to me, I don't know, maybe its because I'm secretly in love with Dean Winchester and that kind of character is fascinating to me, but I really could not figure what everyone's problem was. And by everyone I mean Tobias (So if Tris is Dean, does that make Tobias Sam? Because that kind of makes me giggle). Because apparently wanting to actually get shit done is not conducive to being in a relationship. I liked the characterization most of the time, and other times it kind of made me twitch. Tris had me from the beginning, she will always have me I don't care what anyone says, even though her PTSD gave me pause. Not really Roth's fault to be honest, I'm just still reeling from the disaster that was [b:Mockingjay 7260188 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) Suzanne Collins http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1294615552s/7260188.jpg 8812783] and wasn't really up for another heroine rendered useless. She wasn't useless though, just impatient with herself and weighed down with guilt. She doesn't totally get over it, but she gets passed it (literally, actually). Tobias felt much less like a sipher for teenage girls to project their desires on and more like a real person. However, this had the unintended effect of making me wonder what the hell he and Tris were doing together. Which is unfortunate because there was a lot of kissing and canoodling in this book, not to mention that all the side characters seemed intent on pairing off and then getting killed off or betraying someone and I know they're teenagers and everything but can we...can we just not? I didn't pick this up so I could read a dystopian version of The OC (aaaaand I just made it totally obvious how old I am). And everyone was so snarky and clever, there was a definite Grey's Anatomy vibe that happened every once in a while and it was weird. Even a deathbed confession of love! And it was gay love to boot. Come on, really?My favorite moments were the ones that got really involved in the factions. Amity's peaceful garden atmosphere, and their murmurs of debate as they make decisions. The interrogation scene at Candor was excellent and rather moving. Caleb did fun stuff, Johanna was a really cool character and I was a bit giddy that all the major leaders left at the end were women, just sayin. Peter was kind of lame though. I'm a bit done with this “I don't want to owe anyone anything” trope, its very shounen.The ending, the last hundred to fifty pages or so, that was good stuff. It had tension, action, people starting behaving in a way that actually made sense and there was that great frustration that you get when the main character is so close yet so far. The big reveal at the end was cool. Not huge, it was actually pretty vague. Were the people of the city genetically altered when they were placed there or was it just some kind of brainwashing that had something to do with their memories being erased? What exactly is the threat that they're fighting outside the city? Is it just that, you know, people suck and stuff so lets try to make a ridiculous perfect society because that totally worked in The Village. Or is it zombies? Is it a zombie rage virus? Because I kind of want it to be a zombie rage virus. But overall, the plotting was slightly more sophisticated than Divergent, and Tris was smarter. There were good things. I guess I just wish the whole thing was a lot tighter. And with less kissing.

“Insurgent, he says. Noun. A person who acts in opposition to the established authority, who is not necessarily regarded as a belligerent.”

This book was really slow for me and it took me a really long time to start enjoying it. I really loved Divergent, but waited a really long time to read this book. I think waiting so long and hearing so many other people's thoughts on this series really effected how I perceived this book as I read it.

This book did not stand up at all to Divergent for me. There are so many questions about what everything means. After this book the “villain” is gone and we are left with this huge reveal about what is beyond the fence. This book definitely set up the final book in the series. And now I want to know more about the fence and why it was put up.

I have to say that the last 150 pages were the best part of this book. I also was not expecting the series to go in the way it has, which I like. I'm going to be finishing the series because I'm curious to know what happens and how it all comes to a close. But this was not a strong sequel for me.

Insurgent is a fantastic (if not slightly infuriating—but in a good way) sequel. One of my favorite aspects about the Divergent trilogy is the characters—they're complicated and layered, make (plenty) of mistakes and have their own flaws and struggles to deal with. As a bonus, Roth doesn't rely on the traditional love triangle seen so often in YA novels—instead, she chooses to explore the complexities and difficulties of a relationship, which turned out to be very effective (and also often the source of the aforementioned frustration).

For those of you who have read Divergent and haven't yet picked up the sequel, I highly recommend it, and for anyone else who enjoys well-written dystopian YA books, I can't recommend this trilogy enough.

Really loved the character development in this!!!! Kept me at the edge of my seat all of the fricking time.

I was a bit confused at the beginning, and got lost many times along the way but I think it was a very, very clever book. Roth's brain would definitely be a interesting place to visit.

The ending was a bit abrupt to my liking, and I'm a bit puzzled by it, but I have faith everything will be fixed by the last instalment! Can't wait!!!

The second volume in the Divergent series truly thrilled me. I loved that the other factions (and the factionless) were introduced in this story. My favorite detail was the image of the factionless riding through the city on dark trains . . . and the idea that they'd been doing it all along, Tris had just never noticed. The book was action packed, but Tris's quiet internal struggles over who ally with and her developing empathy for her adversaries really drove the narrative. The first book seemed simplistic; this one was more nuanced and better for it. I loved it!

So.... I really liked Divergent. I have no idea what I really think about Insurgent. I was talking with my hubby about the book and told him that it was crazy. Crazy how? he asked. Just crazy, I told him. Crazy like the second season of a HBO series? he asked. I couldn't have put it better myself. Insurgent is the equivalent of the second season of a HBO series. That's not a good thing in my opinion, but might be for others. I didn't love the book, but I didn't hate it either.

First let me say I'm happy there was no love triangle. Roth showed Tris and Four's relationship have enough to deal with when there world is falling apart. I loved the reader was able to see more of the fractions and factionless. The characters were more developed with personalities becoming more three diminutional do to situation and war. Some lesser characters from book one end up surprising Tris and the reader. The ending made this worth reading.

No Spoiler Review:
I really love this book. It doesn't quite measure up to the first book overall, but that is because Divergent was so wonderful. But, the ending climax was much stronger in this one. I really like the way Tris develops over the course of this one. I really like digging into the minor characters more. Overall, I loved this. I had some issues here and there, and some scenes between her and Four felt repetitive at the beginning. But I loved it.



******Spoilers******
You have been warned, precede no further if you want spoiler free.
I was annoyed with Four more in this one. Though I realize that was because we got to see his flaws more. I think, due entirely to how he came around in the end, that made him a stronger character. Still, some of their fights felt ongoing. Which is realistic, but repetitive in a novel.
I loved the world building, getting to see Amity and Candor far more than originally.
I also was excited to see what became of Uriah, Zeke, Marlene (cries) and Lynn (cries more). Uriah was always a favorite of mine. And the arch with Christina was flawless. Loved it.
I think one of my favorite parts was Peter. Very interesting changes with him.
I loved that we got to see Tris use more of her traits from the three factions. She's really smart and resourceful in this!
And the end with her and Four was so cathartic after the complete failure of communication throughout the novel. Bravo!

Insurgent, he says. Noun. A person who acts in opposition to the established authority, who is not necessarily regarded as a belligerent.

It was an adequate sequel. Intriguing plot. Pretty action-packed and suspenseful. The romance still irks me. I'm excited about reading the conclusion to the trilogy.

Reread 2021: I uh still don't like this part. I always like the beginning and then the middle part and last part just feel flat and meh.
My original rating of Insurgent was three stars, but I decided to lower it to two stars since I did not enjoy my reread as much.

I do like some of the plot twists, but I'm getting bored with Tobias and Tris tbh

This is the 2nd book in the Divergent series. It was a while ago since I read the first one but they filled me in quite well as to what happened. I think I enjoyed this one more than the first book.

Tris, Tobias (Four), and the rest of the gang are running from the factions that are trying to control everyone especially Jeanine Mathews who has some of her own secret reasons for doing what she is doing.

The action really never lets up as they go from one situation to the next. Looking forward to the next book. Although it seemed very wrapped in up in this one.