STAATS: ‘Divergent’ succeeds as YA novel of utopia gone bad

As the first book I purchased for my brand-new Nook, "Divergent" by Veronica Roth made me skeptical. How good could a book be when I bought it on a whim and without being able to hold it or see it first? Buying books on a Nook is more complicated than buying in the store because the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" should never be used for books.

Nevertheless, "Divergent," a coming-of-age, dystopian novel, was exactly what I would have wished for in a book if I had ever thought to wish. It's the perfect book for summer reading: interesting enough to keep your attention if you have a long time to read, but not full of cliff-hangers that make it impossible to put down if you only have a few minutes of reading time.

The novel is about 16-year-old Beatrice Prior, who lives in a society that has reformed itself into a system with five factions: Abnegation, Erudite, Dauntless, Candor and Amity. Organized with the intent of creating unity and peace among the population, these five factions were put into place to enhance the element of human nature each thought was the most important. The Abnegation value selflessness, Erudite value knowledge, Dauntless value bravery, Candor value truthfulness, and Amity value peace.

Each 16-year-old must take a test to determine which faction he or she is most suited for before they choose which to join and begin their initiation process. When Beatrice takes her test, she learns that she is equally suited for Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite, a rare occurrence that her test administrator calls Divergent, and she is advised to keep her results a secret from everyone.

When she transfers out of her family's faction, she feels increasingly aware she is being watched and monitored, but remains unable to talk to anyone about what being Divergent means or why it's dangerous. Not only does she have to worry about her safety, she also has to get through initiation, a grueling process that tests her both physically and mentally.

The entire novel is suspenseful and mysterious as both Beatrice and the reader try to figure out who she is and who she can trust. Roth shows a command of the text I found unusual for a first novel, especially for a 22-year-old author barely out of college.

That being said, this book is quite obviously a young adult novel. The characters could have been better developed, and there was a distinct lack of background information: The reader was never quite sure how Beatrice's society was first organized. But it was never boring and, unlike many other young adult novels, there were no distracting grammatical, spelling or factual errors, which I found refreshing. Overall, I thought Roth did an excellent job in her debut novel, and I anxiously await her next book.

rachelstaats@dailynebraskan.com

Grade: B+