Insurgent [Paperback]

This was one of the most anticipated books of the year and I know why. I LOVED Divergent as you can read from my review. I was late to the Divergent series party, but on the plus side I only had to wait a few months to get my hand on the sequel and boy was that a long few months. I don't know if I can wait a whole year for the third book in the series.

There are some spoilers in this review if you haven't read Divergent so be warned.

We have already been introduced to the dystopian society that Tris lives in and the five factions within it, but we learn so much more about them in Insurgent and more about the fantastic characters that make this series. Insurgent carries on right where Divergent left off. Tris made it into her chosen faction of Dauntless but now the factions are at war. Her and Four are still together and they meet up with a few surviving members of Abnegation, Erudite and Dauntless and try to find a safe haven. Amity refuse to take sides

Tris and Four learn a lot about each other through this book, there are a lot of rough patches that they go through and I wasn't sure they'd survive it. Their character grow and so does their love, but they still have trust issues, they are both stubborn and strong, not always a good combination. There are some sweet and swoon worthy romantic scenes, I would love to see more of these in the next book. Tris matures a lot throughout this book and you forget she's only a sixteen year old girl. She makes some stupid decisions I feel in this book, but always has her wits about her and always gives herself a fighting chance.

I really enjoyed learning more about how the Divergent are different to others in the factions in this book, even into the broken down elements of their brain, it was a really interesting read. I also loved reading more about the factions especially Amity we didn't hear much about in the Divergent.

Divergent is one of my favourite books and was unsure Insurgent could live up to it, but I was wrong, it was as awesome as Divergent was. The ending was brilliant, it came together answering so many questions, but left us hanging with an almighty cliffhanger. I was so tense through out reading this that I didn't relax until the end. Even then it was all I could think about. What's going to happen now?

This is one of the most action packed books I have read. Something happens on every page, bullets, punches and threats fly from all angles. Nothing in this book is black and white, good or evil, everyone has a reason for what they do whether it is right or not in the eyes of others. I can guarantee you will not be able to put this down, you won't eat, sleep or shower until you have gotten to the end of this book, it truly is amazing and Veronica Roth has totally blown me away.

I can't see why the Divergent series isn't as amazingly popular in stores as it is online - it's brilliant, mature fantasy for those looking for something a little different. The first book was easily one of the best books I read in 2011 and Insurgent may just reach the same distinction for 2012. I wouldn't say it's as good as Divergent, but I imagine the second book of a trilogy is always the hardest to write.

Insurgent started out a little confusing for me - I hadn't read Divergent since September last year and the sequel jumps straight into the plot without really explaining or reminding you of a great deal. That said, apparently Veronica Roth purposely chose to do this and posted an explanation and a small reminder of what happened in the first book on her blog.

'I made an "artistic decision" in Insurgent not to do a lot of recapping (that device used in sequels to remind readers of what happened in the first book). Recapping is not a bad thing-- it is very useful, and often necessary--but I felt that it would bog down Tris's narrative and would sound unnatural in her voice.'

I can see her point, it would have sounded unnatural. However, I didn't know about the recap guide at the time and nor will a lot of the non-bloggers who pick up Insurgent from a bookstore. It's a great idea to post such a guide, but it didn't help me. Result - I spent the first quarter of the book more than a little confused and it did detract from my enjoyment a little.

Part of the appeal of this series, for me at least, is the complexity. It's not some simple little YA story that holds your hand and uses literative sock puppets to explain the plot. It's quite a political story and keeping straight the different factions and their relationships in your head isn't difficult, but it does take a little getting used to.

What impressed me the most about Insurgent is that it's the second book in a series that does not lose the feel of the first one. Middle books are difficult because they have to somehow keep a balance between the slow introduction of the first book and the climatic build-up of the third, and they often end up completely losing what made the first book so special. It happens all the time - dystopian society books sometimes distance themselves from the very society that was the point of the first. Not here though. It's absolutely wonderful - the city and the factions have changed since Divergent, but not unrecognisably. It's obviously still the same place, the same people and the same tone. Argh. This is what made this book for me.

You know what else? I actually liked the romance aspects, and I hardly ever do that. Tris and Four's relationship is wonderfully realistic - they love each other, but they don't always like each other, just like in the real world. They argue, but without feeling the need to make the reader drown in their angst. Four gets angry at Tris when she doesn't take care of herself properly - an argument I have honest-to-God had with my own boyfriend. Their romance doesn't take over the story, but it's a nice sub-plot that fits well. And trust me, I never say this.

Speaking of Tris... she's not amazing in this book. While not unbearable, she's a little more annoying than I remember her being in Divergent. She's definitely a strong female role model, but she tends to make stupid decisions that she promised not to make because somebody already told her exactly how stupid it really is.

A large part of the book revolves around some big secret that certain faction leaders know but won't share. Tris doesn't know what this is and KNOWS she doesn't know what this is, yet still makes a drastic decision about that secret without knowing anything about it. She seems to have lost the ability to actually think decisions through instead of making snap judgements based on her grief.

Actually, the grand revelation of that secret is what would have prevented me from giving this book five stars. You know, if I actually did ratings. It just wasn't... well, grand enough. I was expecting something a little more unique and shocking, and it fell a little flat. For me it didn't seem to fit with the tone of the book and didn't really deserve the way in which it was so fiercely protected by the faction leaders.

It was unfortunate that Insurgent ended on kind of a low point for me, because I really did love the rest of the book. It's fast-paced, continues the story brilliantly from Divergent and I can't wait for the next book. Like I said, I'm more than a little impressed how it managed to keep exactly the same tone and atmosphere from the previous. If only more YA novels could follow the precedent set by Veronica Roth!

This is an insightful story, one that qualifies as page-turners, which a reader is likely to go back to, to read again.The pace is fast, the settings are spectacular real and the characters are memorable. This book takes the reader through the ordinary lessons of life where mistakes are made, objectives are achieved and happiness and sadness often at crossroads. Veronica Roth's Insurgent follows Janvier Chando's The Grandmothers, as books I enjoyed reading.They take the reader through the ordinary lessons of life where mistakes are made, objectives are achieved, and where happiness and sadness are often at crossroads. And he story comes with an intriguing title.