Review - Insurgent

Review – Insurgent by Veronica Roth



Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent, the highly anticipated sequel to Veronica’s Roth successful Divergent dystopian YA novel, was released last week to a very excited audience.  We were part of that audience and even luckier, we had an advance review copy as part of Harper Collins’ promotion for the novel. Thank you, Rosi! I was placed in team Candor….so, from that perspective here is my review.

First off, if you haven’t read Divergent, do that now.  Don’t bother reading the rest of this review.  Not because there are spoilers but because Insurgent doesn’t work very well as a standalone novel. It’s part of a trilogy and really needs to be read that way to get full enjoyment from it. It starts off exactly where Divergent left off – and no doubt it ends where the third book will start. Also, I really, really liked Divergent.

So, if you’re still reading this review it’s probably because you’ve read Divergent so introductions to it aren’t really necessary. If you do need a reminder, go here for my review of it.

Insurgent is a battlefield.  A battlefield of guns and serum weaponry, of wills and political power, of factions and ways of life, of conscience and of hearts.

For me, the focus in Divergent was on choice, and this continues in Insurgent but is enveloped far more in questions of trust. Far more so than in Divergent, the characters find that they cannot reliably trust anyone – or even anything – anymore.  Life is no longer how they knew it and they’re all uncertain as to what it will become – and they’re frightened (yes, even some of the Dauntless) about what the consequences of their battle action will bring. It really moves the action into the world of Divergent rather than focussing on Dauntless HQ and training. I enjoyed this aspect of the novel a lot – the more philosophical elements that for me are an essential characteristic of dystopian fiction for any audience. I also enjoyed exploring who and what the Divergent and Factionless are. But, for me, the focus in this book is on action. What you take away most from this book will depend on who you are as a reader.

I did find the middle of the book a bit messy.  I found that many of the secondary (or even tertiary) characters were blurred for me and I often got confused as to who they were. For me, Tobias and Four don’t fit together very well as a single character and that disappointed me.  I missed the Four from Divergent. And I still have that niggle over Tris as a strong female character.  Yes, she is strong and her strength and character does grow – but again, as in Divergent, if it wasn’t for Tobias/Four, where would she be?

Insurgent is high-octane action from beginning to end – with a frequent dose of snogging (and tears from the characters) too. If you enjoyed Divergent, you’ll most likely enjoy Insurgent.  If you’re anything like me, you’ll enjoy it a bit less though.  But, of course, all credit to Roth, I want to know how the trilogy ends!!! Convergent? Emergent?
 

For me as a reader, the baton has been handed back to Veronica Roth and Harper Collins – you guys really need to smash it next time.

Publication details:

Harper Collins, 2012, London, paperback

This copy: received as a review copy from Harper Collins

Little M's Review - Insurgent

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent is a follow on from Divergent and it starts only about an hour after Divergent finished (in Divergent time). This book is about a girl called Tris who had made her choice about which faction she would live in for the rest of her life. Now she has to try and get the truth from an Erudite file before it’s destroyed. Tris needs to overcome a fear of holding a gun again. Is she going to be able to do it?

This book is also about the whole of Tris’ world trying to keep the factions in place and not letting the factionless take over (I’ve actually no idea what her world is called). Not everyone wants this to be so will the factionless try to take over the faction system and create a world with no factions? One of Tris’ close friends is going to betray her.

I think I enjoyed it more than Divergent because more things happen and it has more suspense.  I enjoyed this book a lot but I think there were bits that didn’t need to be included like visiting Amity.

Tris, Tobias, Christina and Lynn are all my favourite characters.  I couldn’t decide whether I had one or not because I loved them all. They all had unique personalities like Lynn who was determined and stronger than a lot of people. Tris’ amazing mind control in simulations was incredible.  She made it look easy but it isn’t (well, I don’t think it is).

I would say this book is an action, adventure and romance story. It isn’t really a romance but there was a little bit of kissing. There is a bit of gore in it but then it’s not as bad as I thought.

In the end, it leaves you in suspense which is very exciting because I can’t wait until the next book.

Publication details:

Harper Collins, London, May 2012, paperback

This copy: received from Harper Collins

Candor Hosts the Divergent Teddy Bears Picnic

"If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise,

If you go down to the woods today, you'd better go in disguise..."

And that's how newly pink haired Veronica Giroffe came to be at the Divergent Teddy Bears Picnic.

Hosted by Candor dog (who honestly just wanted some fun), all five factions turned up bringing their own dress codes, food preferences and entertainment with them. Veronica wasn't so sure how this would turn out - all five of them together under the apple tree! So she stayed in the background, taking cover in the leafy shade of the Amity tree....


Divergent teddy bears' picnic L to R: Candor dog, Amity duck, Abnegation bear, Erudite collie, Dauntless lion

So Candor dog dressed smartly in black and white, brought a glass and Champagne - hoping to tease out some lively debate. But Dauntless lion the brave wanted to show some might. After drinking a can of beer, she refused to hand over the butter knife and challenged Candor dog to a game of truth or dare.

Erudite collie was having none of this silly business and buried his head in a copy of Divergent and brought Insurgent along too - just for good measure. Abnegation bear dressed in a dull grey dress, was on top form  and brought all the food, saving only dry brown bread for herself. There was everyone's favourite dish including roast chicken, banana walnut cake, apples and cheese and beef burgers cooked on glowing coals.  Amity duck, bright and cheerful in her yellow and red, sang sweetly but stayed neutral. Perhaps she'd had too much wine....qwack.

Just outside the camera shot, a group of factionless lurked (Abnegation bear had dropped half of their picnic there - she knew the other factions were likely to squabble if she took too much food anyway).

Veronica Giroffe sighed....'Is this what it's come to?" she thought, and sauntered off to write another story.

This fan fiction takes direct inspiration from Veronica Roth's novel, Divergent published by Harper Collins.  It is posted as part of the #CandorUK bid to win a bag of books and swag from Harper Collins UK as part of the UK launch of Roth's sequel, Insurgent, which is released today. It's also really good fun!

Of course, the rest of faction #CandorUK have a host of surprises in the next week too. And, if you're the picnicky type (like us) head on over to Big Book Little Book to see what delicious Divergent delights they're bringing to the party.



YA lit is a blast!



Harper Collins

When we sat down on the sofa on the 14^th March, who’d have thought we’d end up here today? Little M just wanted to keep a list of her books….then share her thoughts and get inspiration for good authors and good books to read.

The past three weeks have been an absolute blast. We’ve heard about so many great books – new and old – and authors too.  And we’ve been chatting with so many lovely readers and writers who have been so helpful. Thank you!

Here’s what's been going on and a little heads up on some middle grade and teen/YA book news:

·        Little M’s bookshelves were on show at The Overflowing Library’s Bookcase Showcase. We signed up to The British Book Challenge 2012 hosted by the Overflowing Library. And we won the March’s prize pack from Simon & Schuster (more about that coming in our Easter In My Mailbox post). 

·         We’re following the very hot and brand new Hot Key Books who – like us – are at the beginning of their journey (woohoo). They invited us to guest post on how we choose our books where we highligted the importance to us of recommendation and the Carnegie Book Awards. And we’re also privileged to be reading a proof of SJ Kincaid’s Insignia – Hot Key’s first launch title coming out in august 2012.

·         We’ve seen the launch of the #UKYA site which is a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to discover authors of Young Adult and teen literature in the UK.  We’ll be using it loads!

·         We heard exciting news about Lauren St John’s Laura Marlin series for younger readers (middle grade/10-12ish)  Book 3 is being written – for horse lovers, it’s about the Kentucky Derby.  And she’s gone off to research Book 4 in St Petersburg, Russia!

And….yes, we were all waiting for it……

Team #CANDOR UK

·         INSURGENT by Veronica Roth. Our first two book reviews (Little M’s and M’s) were for Divergent.  And now the sequel, Insurgent, will be launched in the UK by Harper Collins on 1 May.

·         But the best bit for We Sat Down – we’ve been selected for the blogging Team #CANDORUK. Yes, we're part of a faction! WOOhooo!!! This means we’ll be among the first to get our hands on an advance copy of Insurgent – before 1 May!  Watch out for reviews coming up during that week. And to be honest, the #CANDORUK reviews will totally spill the truth on Insurgent.

To follow team #CANDORUK news, here is our fabulous team:

Bart’s Bookshelf

Big Book Little Book
Book Monkey 

Feeling Fictional (leader)

Gothic Angel Book Reviews

K-Books

Once Upon a Bookcase

Painting With Words

We Sat Down (that’s us!)

Writing From the Tub (leader)