Insurgent (Divergent, #2) by Veronica Roth

SPOILER ALERT!

This is book TWO in a series. You HAVE TO (seriously, HAVE TO) read the first book, Divergent and then follow up with this review. 

Read my review of Divergent by CLICKING HERE.

 

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

Since my gushing review of Divergent last fall, I have been anxiously awaiting this, the second book in the series. And when I say "anxiously", I mean in the bad way. Divergent completely, one hundred percent BLEW. MY. MIND.  .......   TWICE. (Figuratively, of course.) So as I twiddled my thumbs and counted down the days until Insurgent's release, I went through every possible scenario of how it would be. I've talked about this before- the "second book syndrome" (or SBS for short). It seems like the majority of the time, when I absolutely love a first book, the second book tanks. There have been very few exceptions to this rule (Catching Fire, The Golden Spiral, and The Exiled Queen come to mind as exceptions to that rule...) It seems like the "popular" thing to do with a "book two" is tear apart the couple who spent all of book one trying to get together, boo-hoo about it in the follow-up story, and then hook them back up for book three and act like it's a happily ever after. Or when said-couple are totally hardcore in the first and last book but act like pansies for most of that "somewhere in the middle". I HATE THAT!!

Lucky for Veronica Roth (or maybe lucky for me, you, all of us....) THIS BOOK DOES NOT HAVE SECOND BOOK SYNDROME! 

I can finally breathe a sigh of relief now that I've read this. It was just as awesome as the first, but for slightly different reasons. I still love Tris. If I ever got in a bar fight (I don't even go to bars, so this is highly unlikely), I'd want Tris on my side....

And Four on my arm. (Wink, wink)

There are so many things I want to say about this book, but I don't want to spoil it for any of you. The conflicts are different in this book. Definitely harder-fought, just in a less point-and-shoot way, and more of a holy-crap-our-lives-are-falling-apart-and-few-people-care-enough-to-help kind of way. And, as always, there's a twist at the end that will make your head spin. It will be spinning already though. There were A LOT of unexpected twists in this, and I won't lie, some of them were downright heartbreaking. So grab your tissue box, lock yourself in your room and get to work. You've got some reading to do! This book was just as amazing as the first, and this series is still one of my most highly recommended reads. Enjoy!

Happy Reading!