Book Review: Insurgent (Divergent, #2) by Veronica Roth

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BOOK review

Started on: 24.December.2013

Finished on: 30.December.2013

Insurgent (Divergent, #2) by Veronica Roth

Title : Insurgent (Divergent, #2)

Author : Veronica Roth

Publisher : Katherine Tegen Books

Pages : 525 Pages

Year of Publication : 2012

Price : $ 10.00 (http://www.bookdepository.com)

Rating: 5/5
*for those who haven't read the first book, this review may contain spoiler.
Review for Divergent (Divergent, #1) here.

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"By the time the fight dies down, my clothes are more paint-colored than black. I decide to keep the shirt to remind me why I chose Dauntless in the first place: not because they are perfect, but because they are alive. Because they are free."

The brutal attack caused by the sleepwalking-Dauntless soldiers gets worse. They have killed so many Abnegation leaders as well as the people, and left the faction destroyed. Tris and Tobias successfully turned off the simulation, but there are sacrifices and loss which causes a great wound to Tris. They finally decided to go to Amity, the faction of kind and peace, to seek refuge. But then, Tris overheard the leaders talking about the fact that Abnegation leaders - including Tris' parents - died protecting a secret. And so Tris is dying to know what that secret is about.

Their safety in Amity didn't last long, because soon the Erudite and Dauntless-traitors searched the compound. So they had to flee once again, and this time Tris, Tobias, and the others jumped on a train to meet Evelyn Eaton, Tobias' mother who's supposed to be dead. Their meeting with Evelyn reveals a fact they never knew before, that the factionless have established their own society. The factionless lived a fulfilled life, without being restrained by faction rules. They even look happy, unlike what they thought all this time - that the factionless would be poor and suffer all their lives. Tris overheard Evelyn suggesting Tobias to make the Dauntless cooperate with the factionless; but Tris has a bad feeling about Evelyn's plan. So Tris and Tobias decided to go to Candor, and find out more about what's happening.

"Sometimes drastic change requires drastic measures... I imagine it will involve a high level of destruction."

"Now I have to live with everyone else's judgement as well as my own, and the fact that nothing - not even me - will ever be the same again."

But their visit to Candor didn't go as planned, because right on their arrival, both of them are arrested and they have to answer questions after injected with a truth serum - a serum that forces you to tell the truth. Candor was also attacked by the Dauntless traitors, and they are injecting the people with a new type of serum - which can control a person from a greater distance. The Divergents who are immune to serum, are not affected - including Tris; but the Erudite is able to do something that threatens the people's lives. They demand a Divergent to be sent to the Erudite Headquarters, or they will control the injected people to jump off a building. Overwhelmed by grief and guilt, Tris made a huge decision - to sacrifice herself; where she realized a heart-breaking truth.

"I don't say what I'm thinking, which is that he might be right. There is a part of me that wants to be lost, that struggles to join my parents and Will so that I don't have to ache for them anymore. A part of me that wants to see whatever comes next."

Tris found out the secret she wanted to know about little by little. She was convinced that the secret information must me made known to people in every faction before it is destroyed by the Erudite. In this journey, Tris has to make a lot of tough decisions. She even had to betray Tobias for the sake of a mission she believed in. Tris was also accused by the Dauntless that she's rebelling against the leaders' decision. However, when the hidden information was revealed in front of all the people, everyone was stunned by the truth about the world they live in.

"I think we cry to release the animal parts of us without losing our humanity. Because inside me is a beast that snarls, and growls, and strains toward freedom, toward Tobias, and, above all, toward life. And as hard as I try, I cannot kill it."

Okay, so I have to admit that I still love Divergent more than this one; but the fact that I want to know more and more about what comes next is what makes me give a full-5 rating for this book. And I cannot deny that Veronica Roth's writing is what keeps me going. But I still have that same excitement like when I read Divergent, because I am dying to know how this series would end. One more thing I'm happy about Insurgent is that we get to know more about the other factions: Amity and Candor - because in the first book it's all focused on Abnegation-Dauntless-Erudite. There are a lot of fascinating things, like how Amity the kind puts a serum in the people's food so they will constantly be happy and peaceful. While Candor the honest just uses the truth serum all the time, just to get the truth out of people's mouth. I wonder where would I want to be if I have to choose a faction :p And talking about the title; Insurgent means 'a person who acts in opposition to the established authority, who is not necessarily regarded as a belligerent'.

The story is still told in the first POV of Tris, so we're seeing everything that happens through Tris' eyes. The main idea of this book is for Tris to find out what is the 'ultimate-hidden-secret' that made her parents sacrificed their lives to protect it. And it definitely took a long time to find that out, because there are attacks and obstacles they had to go through. Tris and Tobias definitely had a LOT of arguments in this book; mainly because Tris always took risky decisions while Tobias thinks that she's stupid for making those decision (or he's just worried he might lose Tris that way). In Insurgent, Tris also suffered a lot of emotional and mental distress because of what happened and what she did; the loss of her parents, she killed her best friend, and being under a lot of pressure. I can definitely sympathize when she had a hard time holding a gun, and wanted everything to just end, because she's tired of all that's going on with her life. There are also unexpected character twists that left me aghast, but I wouldn't tell it here to avoid spoiler. So there are a lot of mysteries and secrets in this book; and the ending of this book is absolutely unexpected! Let's talk more about that in the next book review ;)

Tris: "I'm not important. Everyone will do just fine without me."
Tobias: "Who cares about everyone? What about me?"

"Why do I have to? Why can't someone else do something for once? What if I don't want to do this anymore?"
And what this is, I realize, is life. I don't want it. I want my parents and I have for weeks. I've been trying to claw my way back to them, and now I am so close and he is telling me not to.

As I said earlier, the characters are further developed in this book. I mentioned Tris before, so let's talk about Tobias. In Divergent, we don't really see what kind of person he is because he's all cold and mysterious and he's not under any pressure yet. In this book, we also get to see more about his feelings towards Tris, and how he really cares about her. There are quite a lot of scenes involving Tris and Tobias sweet moments, and I always go 'awww~' everytime Tobias expressed how he doesn't want her to die :')))) We also get to see Christina again in this book! It's really nice to give Tris her friend back - even though the reconciliation is quite tough. Marcus Eaton and Evelyn Eaton characters also played an important role in this book; but I won't discuss much so I won't spoil it to those who haven't read yet. The characters come and go; the story introduced new characters, and some characters died along the way. When a character I like died, it was really heart-breaking and difficult to accept ;__;

"I am better off doing as Abnegation taught me: turning away from myself, projecting always outward, and hoping that in whatever is next, I will be better than I am now.
I smile a little, I wish I could tell my parents that I will die like the Abnegation. They would be proud, I think."

All in all, Insurgent was a great sequel to Divergent; it gives off a different kind of thrill because there's some kind of war going on and lives are at stakes. The main conflict of the series is already out and about in this book, and all that's left is the final solution which we will get to see in the last book of the trilogy: Allegiant. As I've said, the ending of this book is a huge surprise and I definitely don't see it coming. It ends at the perfect moment that makes me want to open Allegiant instantly. Veronica Roth is definitely good at playing with readers' hearts ㅋㅋ I already finished reading Allegiant, and am going to write the book review soon after this :))

"People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you decide to trust them."

by.stefaniesugia♥ .