Divergent

Author:  Veronica Roth
Year:  2011
Publisher:  Katherine Tegan Books/Harper Collins

This book takes place in a dystopian Chicago where all citizens are divided into five factions that value or prize a certain virtue in their members - Candor (honest), Abnegation (selfless), Dauntless (brave), Amity (peaceful) and Erudite (intelligent). Each year all sixteen years must pass a take a test that shows their natural inclination towards one faction. Then, the next day, they must choose to which faction they will belong. If the person chooses a faction that their family is not from, they effectively shun their families and will not see them or take part in their prior lives. The main character Beatrice must choose whether she will stay with her family or be the person that she really is. 

This book as been hailed as the book for anybody who is suffering from Hunger Games withdrawal to read. I must say that it did keep me reading much as The Hunger Games did. It also features a strong, brave, female character. That's about where the comparisons to The Hunger Games ends. The situations that Beatrice and Katniss are in are highly different. The Hunger Games is much more intense. But don't take me wrong, Divergent is an excellent book and it's a very good start to the series. When the book ended, I was left wanting more. I saw more of The Giver and The Uglies series in this book than The Hunger Games.

I really enjoyed the book and recommend it to anybody that likes dystopian novels.