Fans of the Hunger Games and Matched series, this book is for you! Divergent is the first novel in this dystoian young adult series and is narrated by sixteen year-old Tris. Tris is an unlikely heroine, but she quickly rises to the occasion when her futuristic world is put into danger. Divergent is an easy, fast-paced read with a myraid of unexpected twists and turns. There’s action, romance, sci-fi, late night rendezvous and deadly secrets. I found Divergent’s five faction world puzzling, yet intriguing and I hope later books in the series offer more answers and explanation. Divergent is a perfect summer read for teenagers and adults.
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 10 religious exclamations; 7 mild obscenities
Violence/Gore: A character slaps another character; characters are engaged in specialized training so they fight each other and receive non-life threatening injuries; a character shoots another in the foot; during a computer-generated simulation, a character must “shoot” others; a character is attacked by crows during another fantasy simulation; a character is kidnapped and her kidnappers attempt to kill her; a girl accidently falls from a train and dies without detail; a character commits suicide by jumping off a cliff; a character pierces another’s eye with a knife; during a computer-generated simulation, a character is forced to shoot family members and herself; an extended battle scene takes place where several characters are shot and killed.
Sex/Nudity: Teenage characters hold hands, embrace, and kiss multiple times; a bully pulls a towel off a character who is getting out of the shower; during a computer-generated simulation, it is revealed that a character is afraid of intimacy; two teenagers engage in a mature discussion about intimacy, discussing the emotions involved, a character’s fear of it, whether they are virgins, and the decision to wait until they are ready.
Mature Subject Matter:
Social, ethical, and familial conflict; death, suicide, war, seperation, murder, friendship, love, and loyalty
Alcohol / Drug Use:
A group of individuals smoke in one scene. A character gets intoxicated.
