Miranda Reads's Reviews > Divergent
Divergent (Divergent, #1)
by
Enjoy the selflessness of Katnis? Love the Harry Potter houses? Adore the will-they-won't-they love from Twilight?
Well, here's the watered down combination of every YA series out there.
There's Tris - the most annoying main character I've met in a while.
The pendulum swings from - from "oh look at me I am such an innocent little abnegation gal - I don't even look into a mirror cause I'm so selfless" to (and this is within a couple of chapters) "I'm the strongest girl ever, selfish to the max, got a hot boyfriend, suck it"...and back again... Constantly.
There's character development and then there's multiple personalities.
There's Four - the super-hot looooooove interest.
He fulfills the roll of Slightly Creepy Older Guy Fixating on the Innocent. He's her teacher and she's completely sheltered - cue the romance. Okay, they're only 2 years apart, but that's still statutory in my state.
Like I get it's supposed to be a steamy PG romance, but this seems borderline abuse:
So, I could go on...and on...and on with my nitpicking on this series but instead, I will leave you with my favorite scene of the book.
The Shower Scene aka the let's get Tris naked ...BECAUSE REASONS
This is the scene where Tris learns that she can't fit in her clothes cause her thigh muscles were SO BIG after training in dauntless for a couple of weeks.
While this raises a number of concerning questions, namely - HOW did they grow in the 15 minutes it took to take a shower? and if she is such a body-shamed abnegation girl, then why in the world couldn't she just wear her old clothes back to the dorm?
But we will disregard the obvious logic and solutions for the sake of the plot.
Due to her thunder thighs, Tris was "forced" to walk back in a towel to the dorms. The tension to skyrockets with this completely unnecessary nude scene which consisted of several rape-y vibes and the complete humiliation of Tris - all to let the audience know that the Bad Guys are really Mean.
(slow clapping in the background)
Overall, not particularly excited about reading the next one.
Audiobook Comments
Honestly, not that memorable. BIG pile of meh.
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by
Miranda Reads's review
bookshelves: literally-painful-to-read, mary-sue-i-will-kill-you, audiobook, dumpster-fire
Nov 07, 2017
bookshelves: literally-painful-to-read, mary-sue-i-will-kill-you, audiobook, dumpster-fire
The Written Review
New week, New BookTube Video - all about the best (and worst) literary couples
Divergent - the Walmart of Young Adult
Enjoy the selflessness of Katnis? Love the Harry Potter houses? Adore the will-they-won't-they love from Twilight?
Well, here's the watered down combination of every YA series out there.
There's Tris - the most annoying main character I've met in a while.
The pendulum swings from - from "oh look at me I am such an innocent little abnegation gal - I don't even look into a mirror cause I'm so selfless" to (and this is within a couple of chapters) "I'm the strongest girl ever, selfish to the max, got a hot boyfriend, suck it"...and back again... Constantly.
There's character development and then there's multiple personalities.
There's Four - the super-hot looooooove interest.
He fulfills the roll of Slightly Creepy Older Guy Fixating on the Innocent. He's her teacher and she's completely sheltered - cue the romance. Okay, they're only 2 years apart, but that's still statutory in my state.
Like I get it's supposed to be a steamy PG romance, but this seems borderline abuse:
"My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I have to press," he says, his fingers squeezing at the word "break."This book focuses far too much on forcing the relationship and shoe-horning Tris into the self-sacrificing hero role that there's little time for anything else...like a plot.
So, I could go on...and on...and on with my nitpicking on this series but instead, I will leave you with my favorite scene of the book.
The Shower Scene aka the let's get Tris naked ...BECAUSE REASONS
This is the scene where Tris learns that she can't fit in her clothes cause her thigh muscles were SO BIG after training in dauntless for a couple of weeks.
While this raises a number of concerning questions, namely - HOW did they grow in the 15 minutes it took to take a shower? and if she is such a body-shamed abnegation girl, then why in the world couldn't she just wear her old clothes back to the dorm?
But we will disregard the obvious logic and solutions for the sake of the plot.
Due to her thunder thighs, Tris was "forced" to walk back in a towel to the dorms. The tension to skyrockets with this completely unnecessary nude scene which consisted of several rape-y vibes and the complete humiliation of Tris - all to let the audience know that the Bad Guys are really Mean.
(slow clapping in the background)
Overall, not particularly excited about reading the next one.
Audiobook Comments
Honestly, not that memorable. BIG pile of meh.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
May 12, 2017
–
Finished Reading
November 7, 2017
– Shelved
Comments Showing 1-50 of 202 (202 new)
message 1:
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Scarlett
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Jan 02, 2018 02:22AM
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LOL
Sadly, I think that's pretty typical for YA these days, at least those that include a romance angle, which seems to be the vast majority.
You're right, and here's what's weird about that...
The boys in my generation were raised on action movies, which A: usually had a romantic sub-plot and B: said sub-plot was usually problematic as hell from a relationship-health angle. The current YA novel explosion is being marketed to the same age group and has exactly the same problem, except the target audience is generally girls, not boys.
(The prevailing assumption these days is either "boys don't read" or "boys won't read something with kissy-face in it", which is problematic all by itself but that's a whole 'nother ball of wax.)
So yeah. Not sure what to make of that beyond being faintly disturbed.
You're right, and here's what's weird about that...
The..."
Yup.
"(The prevailing assumption these days is either "boys don't read" or "boys won't read something with kissy-face in it", which is problematic all by itself but that's a whole 'nother ball of wax.)"
Oh, I know it! I've struggled for many, many years trying to find good books for boys from beginning readers to YA, and it's really tough. I'm still always on the lookout.
Another assumption these days that annoys me is that girls won't read YA stories unless there is a prevalent romance. I'm a Sci-Fi and Fantasy reader, always have been. I am *not* a Romance reader. I don't mind a bit of romance, however I certainly don't require it, and I really, really do mind books that are really Romance books marketed as Sci Fi and Fantasy.
It's perfectly fine that there are these kinds of books (problematic relationship issue aside), obviously many people enjoy them, but there should be books for those of us who do not want a heavy romance-focus story too. We exist, and we need books too.
I don't think it's being an old married person. It's never appealed to me. I also don't have a lot of tolerance for teen angst. It's one reason I've never really been into Contemporary stories and also Romance stories.
I am old enough to feel cranky it's now invading Sci Fi and Fantasy LOL. But, that's fine, for those that enjoy that stuff, as long as it's marketed honestly, and there are other books for the rest of us.
You're right, and here's what's weird about..."
It's pretty easy to find YA books for male readers, but you can't take recs to find it. I have to find it myself if that's what I'm looking for.
Yup. I feel duped. It's one of my huge pet peeves. Sure Romances can take place in Sci Fi or Fantasy worlds and have a Sci Fi or Fantasy surrounding plot. But those are sub-genres of Romance *not* Sci Fi or Fantasy, and should be marketed as such.
I can find some, but I find it very hard. Most YA seems written for the female audience. They're out there, but I have to really look and pay attention.
It's easier in YA than Children's and Middle Grade though.
Oh man really? I loved Divergent. To each her own.
I did read it on a YA lit binge...so my opinion is slightly marred from that
Was this at all enjoyable in a guilty pleasure way like Twilight? I'm guessing not if you rated it 1 star.
Also, was this worse than The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard? I really didn't like that one.
But is it worse than Red Queen? Heck naw. Red Queen is the pits...the only thing worse than RQ is First Life by Gena Showalter (*shudders*) and Bear by Marian Engel (*more shuddering*)
I dnf's Divergent and then watched the movie to see if I can get into it but noooo the movie sucked too and "I am Divergent" did not make any sense to me so I did not even bother with the rest xD
Also Twilight is better than this and thats saying something u.u
Lol. That does sound rather fun :)
honestly, i couldn't find a better way to describe it :p
Some people love it. . . But it wasn't for me
Are you referring to the last from the main series or the companion novel? B/c by the time i suffered through the 3 books, i welcomed that end. Ugh.
I dnf's Divergent and then watched the movie to see if I can get into it but noooo the movie sucked too and "I am Divergent" did not make any sense to me so I did not even bother ..."
LOL totally agree. . . And twilight will always hold a special place in my heart (too many teen memories)
that scene. Ugh. What was Roth thinking? !
Mine was twilight - no matter how bad those books are, I absolutely loved it (and still love it).
LOL - lovely :P
I think that was my problem with this series (my first YAs were Twilight and the Hunger Games - and I absolutely adore them to this day).
But for Divergent, I read it coming off of a YA binge - and I had read a few really good ones - so this one just didn't sparkle for me.
We are just a few who didn't give 4 or 5 stars to this book, so we have to stick together. ;)
And by the way, if you want to read a good SF dystopian novel, try Foe by Iain Reid.
And by the way, if you want to read a good SF dystopian..."
LOL and thank you for the tip :)
I think I've just read too much YA to truly enjoy this one :P
It bothered me so much - this is not a healthy relationship to portray to teens!