Divergent...a review

A couple of weeks ago, Man-Child was home for Spring Break we were at the local Barnes & Noble when he pointed out the book Divergent by Veronica Roth to me.  He mentioned that it was coming to theaters soon and looked pretty good.  So I picked it up and read the synopsis and was immediately intrigued.

Of course, after I purchased the book and we were in the car he snatched the book up and started to read it.  As the one whose funds actually purchased the book, I was a little miffed but I let him have it.  At any rate, he kept telling me how good it was and that I would really enjoy it.  Surprisingly enough, he finished the book on our trip back up the mountain to his school and left it for me to read.

And he was right.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  So when he came home this weekend, I "called dibs" on some of his time (since his father and his friends seem to hog the majority of his time when he's home) - which he thought was hilarious.  But I was dead serious.  And although his father did hog him on Saturday, he was all mine today; most of which was spent driving but, for once, he actually stayed awake during the whole trip.  And we had lunch together and went to see the movie.

And it was amazing!  The film, for once, actually stayed fairly true to the book.  A rarity.

It all boils down to this:

There was a war of some sort and the people left in what used to be known as Chicago have put up a huge fence.  Then they broke out into five factions.  Abnegation: The Selfless, Erudite: The Intelligent, Amity: The Peaceful, Candor: The Honest, Dauntless: The Brave.

Upon reaching the age of sixteen, you are given an aptitude test to see which faction you would best fit.  You have the right to actually choose your faction but once you choose that's it; there is no going back.  The motto being, "Faction before blood."  And should it turn out that you chose wrong then you could end up being "factionless" - basically homeless.  But whatever happens, you don't want to be labeled as "Divergent;" because that means you don't conform.  And conformity must be stamped out.

The thought behind these factions is that this will create peace.  That there will be no more wars.

As you and I both know, that is a fantasy.  Human nature being what it is means that there is always a few that will make a grab for power at any given opportunity...no matter the cost.

I have yet to read the remaining two books in this series, but I will.  And I have a feeling that I will enjoy them as much as I did the first.