Final reflections/review

     So, as anyone who read my blog knows, I wasn't the biggest fan of this book. Since I won't be changing anyone's opinion anyway, I'd like to give an explanation of mine. Let's begin;

Reason 1: The main protagonist

     Let me just start by stating my hypothesis: I don't think the author knew exactly where she was going with Tris when writing this book. She wanted the character to be selfless, that's obvious, but she also wanted an edgy character. I'm not saying that those two traits can't mix, because they do all the time, It's how poorly the author mixed them that bugged me. You see, the author wanted Tris to be selfless, but she unknowingly wrote the most selfish hero I've ever read. What ended up happening was that Tris acted extremely selfish, and then the other characters would always comment on how selfless she was. It's as if the author was trying to remind us, "Hey, Tris is selfless. okay?" the whole time. The result was a lot of eye rolls on my part, usually on big decisive actions that Tris makes, Which is really unfortunate.

Reason 2: The setting

     Let me start by saying that this setting had lots and lots of potential, but was killed by plot-holes. The biggest being the fact that all of the other factions were just cool with Abnegation being in charge. That is the equivalent of the Republican party being all like, "Nah, we're good. You Democrats can just run the government. We don't care." Here is the definition of faction: A small, organized, dissenting group within a larger one, esp. in politics. This one huge plot hole could have been avoided by the author not calling the factions factions. Maybe call them lifestyles? Heck, career paths? While it sounds lame, it would kind of feel a bit more right. There are a lot of other ones (Erudite just happened to have that water tank laying around to kill Tris.) but that one had the most negative effect on the plot. 

Reason 3: The author wasn't too great at a dystopian setting

     While this might have fit in with setting, I feel it should be all on it's own, because this was a major gripe of mine. A Dystopian setting is one with a totalitarian government in control, usually with a strong military to enforce it's laws and policies. Well let's see, the government was basically comprised of charity workers, not iron fisted dictators. That strong military? A bunch of crazy adrenaline junkie goths. The setting was just too comfy! It felt like, especially during the Tris/Tobias romance scenes, the author wanted to write a book about societal outcasts. She actually would be pretty good at that, but when put in a world where there is supposed to be a rich, structured history, she falls a bit flat. In fact, when there were bad guys, there was strong evidence that they were fighting for a representative government, which made the whole power struggle a bit backwards.



     So while I had my gripes (the list could go on, but that would make this post way too long), there was some stuff I liked. The action was good, if a bit action movie-ish. Four was pretty cool, until he became Tobias (so to speak), and the idea of factions would have been cool, if the author hadn't quite messed it up with the different roles they have in society. At it's best, the book has loads of potential to be really great. At it's worst, it was filled with plot holes and had an annoying main character. If I had to give this book a rating, I'd say 2/5. It impressed me at times, just not nearly as much or as often as it should have. Well, it's been a blast, guys. Thanks for reading, and have a great day.

Chapter 39

     Is Tobias going to shoot Tris? Will the Erudite be stopped? Will Peter ever get his act together? Find out in this final chapter blog post. Back to where we left off, Tris is thinking she gon' die. However, she is able to get Tobias awake. A bit cheesy, but who wants to mess with a happy ending?

Besides you George, you jerk. JK I love you, release book six please.

     Tobias stops the simulation, causing the sleepwalkers to go nuts and murder each other for a bit, but the simulation does get stopped. The heroes make a pretty dashing escape after Tobias is reunited with his father (Tris doesn't fail at making the situation awkward by yelling at Marcus to get away from Tobias [LOL]). Tris, Caleb, Tobias, Marcus, and Peter are headed then on a train for Amity-land, knowing not what awaits them. Our final thoughts from Tris are, "I am no longer Tris the Selfless, or Tris the brave. I suppose that now, I must become more than either." Fin.
   

Chapter 38

     Remember how Peter beat the tar out of Tris in the training fight? Well, it's the same idea in this chapter, except it's pretty feels in this chapter because it's Four doing the beating. Remember when Black Widow fought a mind controlled Hawkeye in the Avengers? This kind of reminded me of that, except Tris didn't win. She did get a few good hits in.

Good on ya, Tris!

     She puts up a good fight until Tobias overpowers her and points his gun towards her head. She reflects upon what she has done in life, "Can I be forgiven for all I've done to get here?" These last chapters I have to say I liked. It seems like the author kind of got a feel for the book at this point, but everything just kind of feels a lot more right than the first 36, which is a good and bad thing. One chapter left guys...

Chapter 37

     This chapter covers the big raid on Dauntless HQ by Tris and friends. I'll have to admit, this was actually one of the parts of the book I enjoyed. The description was pretty good, if the action was a bit campy (I apologize in advance, I'm reading a military autobiography at the same time as this, so it's hard to go back and forth between the action-movie like combat and realistic account without the prior coming off as a bit cheesy). The action was nice and fast paced, and the storm trooper effect was evident of the sleepwalkers, which made Tris seem like Rambo. I really did like this part.

Pew pew pew

Tris gets some payback on Peter (Who the higher ups allowed to not be a sleepwalker, I guess? I didn't quite get his explanation of why he's conscious.), and unfortunately they have to leave Caleb and Marcus behind to tend to the gunshot wound Tris inflicted on good ol' Pete. Tris goes up towards the control room, and her dad dies defending her. She doesn't have much time to mourn because, "for every second that I waste, another Abnegation member dies." She makes it up to the control room, where the final boss awaits her: Tobias.

Sorry, I just had to make a Mortal Kombat joke

Chapter 36

     ... So who is the next death? Caleb? Four? Tris? Unfortunately no, it's not Tris. It's Will. So what, right? He's not really a major character? Well, let me give you his death:

       "The man running toward me is not a man, he is a boy. A shaggy haired boy with a crease between his eyebrows. Will. Dull-eyed and mindless, but still Will. He stops running and mirrors me, his feet planted and his gun up. In an instant, I see his finger poised over the trigger and hear the bullet slide into the chamber, and I fire. My eyes squeezed shut. I cant breathe. The bullet hit him in the head. I know because that's where I aimed it."

      Poor Tris right? Nope, let's think about this for a moment. A few chapters ago, she had a perfect shot on Eric, ONE OF THE MAIN ANTAGONISTS. She can't kill Eric, even when he is conscious and intentionally evil. Apparently she can kill one of her best friends when he's hypnotized and has no control of his actions. I get it, the author put her in that situation, it's just a book, etc etc. But the author really needs to keep her characters consistent. It should be no surprise to readers of this blog that I'm no fan of Tris, and one of the main reasons behind that is because she never acts how we think she should. It's almost as if the author wanted to write her two different ways, and instead of making two different characters she just gave her both personalities (Selfless and extremely selfish).

Indecision, wanted dead or alive for the double murder of logic and plot lines

     Tris makes it to the Abnegation hideout and recruits Caleb, her dad, and Marcus (gasp) to go on a raid to the Dauntless compound and stop this mess.

Chapter 35

     Remember when Tris had the fear simulation in which she was in that glass container filling with water? Apparently the Erudite just had one of those laying around and that's how they're going to kill Tris. Tris is saved however by mom. Mom pulls up Tris and explains to her that people who are Divergent are immune to the system. "I am Divergent. And I can't be controlled." They make an escape, and mom gives her life so Tris can make it to where the Abnegation are hiding out. Thankfully we do get something in return for her death, we don't feel like we just got screwed over, unlike the next death....

Chapter 34

     The Divergent rebels are taken to the mastermind of the Erudite plan, Jeanine Mathews. Before I talk about what goes on between them, I just have to wonder; Do the Erudite want a representative government, or total control? Tris seems to believe that they want total control, but we have to remember that she is extremely biased towards the faction. The articles written by Erudite all point to a representative government, though they could be deceitful. I just have to hope for this book's sake that the Erudite do want total control. If they don't then the main character of this book is fighting to keep a government dominated by one party, while the bad guys are basically championing the American way of life.

And also, how were the other factions okay with just one faction being in charge of the government in the first place?

Back on track, Jeanine shoots up Four with a serum that makes him want to kill Tris, and he tries to strangle her in a way that would make Mockingjay proud. Some Dauntless guards take him away, and Jeanine gives the guards the order to, "Take her to room B13." referring to Tris, of course.