Insurgent by Veronica Roth – a Review

“Insurgent” by Veronica Roth is the second book in her Divergent Trilogy.  I loved the first book in this series Divergent, and expected this book to be good, but was totally surprised to find Insurgent to be even better.  Kudos to Veronica Roth, who takes us right from the start on a non stop journey that does not end with this book.  In Insurgent, Roth seamlessly brings us into the action right away, as if you were still reading Dviergent, and it flows beautifully. 

To give you a refresher, this story takes place in Chicago in the future.  There are five factions, which each person is born into.  Abnegation: being selfless. Amity: peace and love. Candor: honesty. Dauntless: courage. Erudite: knowledge. Each of these factions consists of different professions, different clothes, and different lifestyles. Abnegation is the political arm of all the factions, as they are considered selfless, and less likely to be corrupted by power. Dauntless protects the borders of the city.  Erudite, being intelligent, wants the power of Abnegation and this will be a major focus of this story later in the book.  Our heroine Tris, and hero Tobias (or Four) have escaped from their faction, Dauntless, after stopping an Erudite created simulation that brainwashed the Dauntless to kill the Abnegation faction.

Now begins Insurgent, with Tris unable to cope with guilt of killing her friend, even though he would have killed her, as he was under the simulation to kill.  It was kill or be killed for Tris.   They with other survivors come to Amity for sanctuary, only to be forced to leave, as the Erudites & Dauntless traitors are coming after them, especially for all those that are Divergents.  We know from the first book, that Tris and Tobias are Divergents, as are others whom we meet in this book.  We get to meet the factionless, whom are more then anyone expected, and they are run by Tobias’s mother.  The Factionless are the key to defeating the Erudites, as their members were those tossed away by all the other factions, and their numbers are now bigger then the other factions. They will team with the loyal Dauntless to fight this war of survival.

Jeanine Matthews is still the villain in this book, but Roth brings in so many new characters….friends, enemies, family, and betrayers.  Though at times you might get confused who is on whose side, Roth does a good job giving us a better insight into these really good characters.  We learn so much more about these characters, such as Peter, Christina, Caleb, Tori, Uriah and so much more.

Tris is a great heroine, as she is tough, vulnerable, strong and still has her own flaws, but you are on her side all the way through,especially when she willingly offers her life to save others.  Tobias is perfect for her, as he is truly a leader, who I expect to come on his own, when this is over.  They love each other, but they know that now is not the time, as they have a war to fight.   But we do get to watch them discover more about each other, even to the misunderstandings.  Very well done.

Insurgent was very exciting from start to finish; total action, suspense and so tense at times.   This book totally blew me away, as I could not put this book down, nor could you even attempt to skip anything in fear you would miss the many revelations.   This has to be one of the best second books of a series that I have ever read. Totally awesome.   The plot, the constant surprises, the betrayals, and twists, and though this has some romantic undertones with Tris and Tobias, it is not a romance story.  It is considered YA dystopian, but it is not YA only, as this book is all adult; with the violence, the intensity, the danger, not to mention the complexity.

The wild ending was a cliffhanger, and most of you know I hate cliffhangers.  But this was done so very well by Roth, totally amazing, and you will be thinking of this for the next year….until the third and final book comes out.  Bravo to Veronica Roth for her ability to create this world and write such a fascinating story that will not let you go.  If you have not read this series, I urge you to buy Divergent and Insurgent now, since if I have to rate this book,.. I give it 5 stars.

Review by Barb