I am not really sure of my feelings for this book.
– On the good side there was plenty of action and the concept at the ending of the book seems to be quite interesting. show
But let’s take it step by step.
“Insurgent, he says. Noun. A person who acts in opposition to the established authority, who is not necessarily regarded as a belligerent.”
First the COVER – it is beautiful. I don’t care that it doesn’t have much to do with the story, as it has been design in the middle of the writing process, all I care is how lovely it is (as well as the cover for Divergent). I love it!
The CONCEPT:
Writers, when creating a world, have a great power over it and some of them are not afraid to use it. They are not afraid to put the characters through hell and back, they are not afraid to hurt them, and they are not afraid to kill.
They also have the power to make us care, which is the most powerful thing, because words can create and they can destroy as easily, and it’s a great skill to do them both and still be loved by your readers.
Veronica Roth managed to do that pretty well.
The ACTION:
I loved the fact that we had a smooth transition between these 2 books, without a period of time when you need to fill in the blanks. It starts from the very moment Divergent ended, as we waited to see what was supposed to happen with the characters when they reached their destination.
On the bad side, parts of the action didn’t make much sense. Tris was going through a rough time and she was getting into suicidal situations more than not. Also there were so many lies and secrets that I got tired to keep up with them. The suspense was there to keep you going, but after a few suicidal missions I couldn’t care less about their shaken self esteem (and the fact that I knew I had still half of the book ahead made me worry even less).
CHARACTERS
Veronica’s characters are full of life and driven by passion and a strong sentiment of justice and truth. They are high on their highest and low on their lowest and they manage to bring all the emotions they feel to you.
It feels like an amusement park, because as much as it scares you, you still want another ride. The only problem is that too much dizziness can be a bit too much, and characters switching sides and lying all the time can get on your my nerves at times.
Tris:
I can’t really put my head around some things. Like how weak Tris has become, and no, it is not that what she did in this book was because she was brave or strong, it was just because she was being reckless, and didn’t care about anyone else but herself.. Yes, she was selfish, and I can’t even say that this is a bad thing because, you see, that’s how she thought of herself from the very beginning, that was how she became dauntless. I cared for the loss of her parents, but all the lies she had to tell Tobias were out of place. She didn’t need to do that other than adding some unnecessary tension between the two of them and to become a silly damsel in distress that he needed to save all over again. *sigh*
“You die, I die too.” Tobias looks over his shoulder at me. “I asked you not to do this. You made your decision. These are the repercussions.”
Tobias:
Tobias – was quite left out of this story. He only got to make some convenient appearances here and there, and his actions were so contradictory that I don’t know what to think of him anymore. He seemed to have some secrets but were they revealed? I don’t think so. There was nothing special about the things he didn’t say to Tris, unless there is more to figure out in the next book.
“We both have war inside us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.”
I liked them so much in the first book and in this one they made no sense as a couple, acting so strange, fighting only to make up again. It was crazy. I get that they had other things on their mind and the romance was not so important into the story, but their actions showed so little respect for each other and so many gaps in their relationship that it was really sad to ‘watch’.
Other characters:
There were so many characters that appeared and disappeared that I didn’t get to care much for them. Yes, we knew some most of them from the first book, but it was not like in the first book we got along on the caring side either. There were also many surprises regarding the loyalty of some of them; I should probably read these 2 books again and see if their personality/actions match all these changes or if they were random to simply make the story work.
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“People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you decide to trust them.”
ROMANCE:
If I liked the romance in the first book, I pretty much got sick of it in this book. How many times can they lie to each other, hide things and betray one another, without kissing and making up afterwards in a matter of minutes? Yes, they had their moments (some of them were really cute, others a bit funny), but after a while I started to wonder why did they care for each other, why didn’t that love disappear between thousand of lies and mistrust?
“We’re all right, you know,’ he says quietly. ‘You and me. Okay?’ My chest aches, and I nod. ‘Nothing else is all right.’ His whisper tickles my cheek. ‘But we are.”
.. Are you sure, Four?
All in one, this was an entertaining read, and the possibilities from here are endless. I can’t wait to see what new adventures await our beloved characters and how things will end in the next and last book in this series.
Hopefully you will love this better, so if you liked the first one you should definitely give this one a try too.
Happy midnight reading! 
Note: The Romanian version of the review can be found here.
Watch the book trailer:
Read an excerpt:
Insurgent Movie – Teaser Trailer:
Wow, just how COOL is the teaser trailer! I’m amazed and completely sold!! I want this now!!!
Insurgent Movie – Interactive 3D posters:
After you view the first animation, select other characters from the bottom menu.
OMG what an awesome Review!!! I really am a little scared about this book. I loved the first one and I do not want to end up NOT loving this one… too bad you didn’t love it as much!
Love your cute grafics :))
Thanks, Danny. For some reason I always end up focusing on the bad things more and maybe it’s not fair as there were many great moments in the story, so I guess you shouldn’t worry too much. I liked better Divergent, but you might even prefer this one 😉
I can’t wait to see what you think of it too!
I really didn’t like how reckless she became but by the end I understood that it was important for her to go through that and figure out who she was. I think we’ll get out good old Tris back in book 3! Awesome review, love!
I understand that Tris needed to get through all this and I hope to see more of her brave side in the next book, it’s just that it got a bit repetitive with her being reckless just to be saved again. Also you got me thinking – maybe it would have been better to read the book in one sitting – there’s a lot happening and it’s a bit hard to keep up with all that if you get interrupted.
I’ve been hearing a LOT of good stuff about INSURGENT. Thanks for the honest review. I don’t know what to think of Tris after reading this. Sounds like someone needs to teach her a few Candor-like lessons! *sigh* It’s also really sad to hear that the relationship between Tobias and Tris has deteriorated.
Well, I have yet to check out INSURGENT, but thanks for the review! It’s refreshing to read something that doesn’t gush about the book. 😛
Oh, but they did teach her a ‘Candor’ lesson, I guess it wasn’t enough though. (Personally I liked the ‘Amity’ lesson better, you have to love Tris on drugs, LOL! so funny and I am not saying more)
Half the book they are quite great as a couple, and I guess that they will be in the next one too, but you will be the judge of the rest of the story from this point of view.
I hope you will like Insurgent. For me it was not as good as the first one, but many people liked this one better, so I guess it depends on the person reading it.
Can’t wait to hear what you think of it too 😉
Well, what can I say. I always love your reviews and this time I think the same. I agree with you! I felt a little… confused? about this book. Sometimes I really hated Tris and Four. I think the next book will be better anyway!
Happy reading!
I was so sure I was going to love this story to pieces; I was a bit lost when I realized that it was not really the case. Still enjoyable but I hoped for more – and you are right, I have the same feeling that the next one will be better. Happy reading to you too!
First, I love all the graphics you do for your reviews, they are amazing. I felt about the same way you did. This book was a bit disappointing for me, too. I didn’t like the big changes I saw in Tris. Yeah I get she is suffering from PTSD but I didn’t like the selfishness and the lying either. I also was bugged by Four becoming Tobias…..Still the ending was a big shocker and I am anxious to see how this series will finish!
I must be one of the very few that didn’t mind the change of name ;))
But I did mind the changes the characters got through, as most of them seemed forced and made me think that I didn’t know at all these characters (and I like to feel like I know them, like their actions are the most natural in the world even when they surprise the hell out of me).
Tris and Four had their ‘ups’ but too many ‘downs’ and I didn’t enjoy that… But I hope to like them again in the next book.
PS: you can click on the pictures to go to the original artworks (I just used them as they are really great and the artists deserve to be known by Divergent fans)