Allegiant
Allegiant (Divergent, #3)by Veronica Roth
One choice will define you. What if your whole world was a lie?What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?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. (goodreads.com)
First: OMG! Look! I actually finished a book! It's been over two and a half months, but I finished a book! Whee!Second: Hmmm. I don't know what to write because I am not sure what I thought of the book. I'm having a serious struggle between liked and disliked. So I think I'll break things down in this post and go from there.(So, SPOILER ALERT if you have not read this book yet. This is your warning!)- I didn't know this book would be told from alternating points-of-view. I didn't read the summaries online because I didn't want to know ANYTHING about a book I was highly anticipating. So I had no clue that we'd get the ending to this trilogy in both Tris's and Four's POVs. The thing is, multiple POV? I hate it. It's rare that I come across a book where I feel the back and forth is done properly. And I especially hate when a series makes a switch in narration in the middle or end of a series. The first two books were told from Tris's point of view and then suddenly the last book? SWITCHEROO! But I have loved this series so far and the writing and story has been solid, so I tried to keep my hatred for this type of thing down and read on with an open mind.- Which allowed me to understand WHY the dual POV was written. There were two stories to tell and I can understand why there was a separation of narrator. But I still didn't like it. Part of my problem was in realizing when we'd switched from Tris to Tobias in the chapter titles. I didn't find their names were obvious enough. Or that they were too similar. I think if they'd written Tobias's chapters as "Four" and not "Tobias" I might not have missed as many switches as I did. I would see the "T" and assume it was Tris. And then get confused until Tris would walk into the scene, or something. They were not distinguishable enough in my mind.- I was both disappointed and horrified with what they found after they left the city and went through the fringe. Finding out it's all a US experiment sort of... I don't know, took away the mystique of the dystopian society. I can't explain it. The whole thing is a lie and it was like my bubble had burst. I didn't like knowing there were others, out there controlling everything. The quiet bubble of this scary society was burst and the harsh reality of it all being an experiment and a lie left a bad taste in my mouth. But I was also horrified at the idea that a government/country could DO something like this. That the disregard for human life would be so strong and acceptable. I don't know what I wanted them to find when they escaped the city. I don't know how I would feel if it had been something other than what they did find. Did I want everything to be barren and empty? That they were the only ones left? Did I want there to be some sort of exiled, escaped people who lived out in the fringe and were insane? I'm not sure. But there was something about them finding... normal. Normal society, like ours now, only with some added quirks and issues about the Genetically perfect and damaged things... I still can't figure out if I liked or disliked the Big Discovery and this is frustrating to me!- I felt like Four was too quick to trust someone he didn't know. I felt like his attitude towards Tris was wrong. I don't think I ever had strong feelings for him before because he wasn't the protagonist, but the more I got to know him through his chapters, the less I liked him. I think Tris could have done so much better. Especially since he always seems to make decisions that end up wrong.- I was a little tired of every single group being part of an uprising. I mean, really. I suppose when you're in a society that is that unstable you'll get uprisings all over the place, but with each chapter and discover of new people and new groups, there was an uprising about to happen in each one. Seems a little much to me. Although I had thought those Fringe people would have been a little bigger part of the story. Especially since Tris was so moved by the lack of what they had AND got the name of one of the girls in the camps. I had expected more from the Fringe people, maybe while they were tying to sneak back into the city to thwart the memory serum plans? I feel like there was stuff cut out from the book that would have added more to that part of the story? Maybe?- Speaking of the book... Sure it's 500+ pages, but the font was very large and the margins were HUGE! I have no idea who thought this would be a great idea. Let's make the book LOOK epically long and people will be excited and want to buy it even more! but then you open it and you have a tiny space of text on each page. I don't like when books are padded like that to make it seem like they are long. This book would have made a decent 350-400 page book if it had normal margin sizes. I felt like I was reading a kid's chapter book at times.- I was surprised by the ending. I was convinced it was going to end some other way and when things unfolded as they did, I was convinced I would read on to discover that it was also a lie. But the ending stayed true to what I was reading and I have to say I was impressed with the ending to this story. Very impressed. And as much as I didn't like Four I think the ending helped me come around a little as he showed emotion and... I really liked the ending. A lot. There were FEELS and stuff and those last few chapters and the epilogue are the main reason I didn't dislike the entire story.- Peter. Peter made my heart wrench. He also helped me not dislike the entire story. Peter of all characters.- So I'm still undecided as to how I really feel about the final book in this trilogy. I do stand by the opinion that the Divergent series is a strong one and a great read. This book might not have had me at the edge of my seat, but I think it did the job at offering closure to a wonderful series. The writing was still strong - even if I didn't like the dual points of view! ;)I can now go around and read reviews from others. I am curious to see what the thoughts are on this book. I have to say it surprised me in many ways and I think that's why I am so undecided on how I feel. Maybe that's exactly what the author was going for. (Dual POV aside, I mean. That's just a personal taste of mine to dislike dual POV and doesn't have much to do with the story itself!) In celebration of my actually reading a book AND posting about it on my blog within 24 hours of finishing it, feel free to leave a comment about what you thought of the story. :) I'd love to hear from you!Divergent