Series: Divergent

Free Four: Tobias Tells the Divergent Knife-Throwing Scene

Free Four: Tobias Tells The Story (Divergent #1.5) by Veronica Roth

I was so excited when I found out that there’s a short story on Divergent with Four’s perspective. I thought it was going to be hard to find an ebook of it but I was wrong. I found it as soon as I searched. This short story is Four’s point of view in one of the scenes that happened in Divergent. I read the reviews of other fans and they were happy with which scene Roth chose to write Four’s story on. There were a lot of scenes I would have loved to get inside his head with, but the knife scene was a great choice. It’s where he admitted to himself that he likes Tris and wanted to protect her, and it’s what stopped him from walking out on Dauntless and become factionless. I really liked hearing his reasons, his motivation for doing that to Tris. He told her that in Divergent when she got mad at him for taunting her, but it wasn’t clear to me back then. After reading this, it became clear that what he did was out of love. The downside is that this story was too short. I would love to read more about Four’s thoughts, his choices, his feelings for Tris. I’m still intrigued why he likes Tris so much, I could just assume it was love at first sight but still, I want to know.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth

Insurgent is the sequel to the action-packed, dystopian Divergent. War is upon them and there’s a conflict between factions. Four and Tris seek refuge in other factions in hopes of gaining allies to defeat the Dauntless. As they run for their lives, they uncover secrets and piece together information about their community’s origin. WARNING: Possible Spoilers Ahead. Right after reading Divergent, I opened Insurgent to continue from where the story left off. I was so excited to find out what happens now after the incident between the Dauntless and Abnegation. Tris starts calling/referring to Four as Tobias and I don’t know how I feel about it. I have loved him as Four and being referred to as Tobias feels weird. I liked how Roth explored all the emotions Tris was having all throughout their journey. She has lost so much but still had the will to fight back and save the people she cared for and loved. She is such a strong female character, but some of the decisions she makes are either very brave or very stupid. Regardless of how irritated I am with her “selflessness”, I still understand why she keeps making such decisions. The problem with Tris and Four’s relationship is they lack communication. Both originally from Abnegation, they are always trying to save the other and would often end up fighting because one made a decision for the other and vice versa, causing their individual plans to fail. I kept thinking if they just told or consulted each other about their plans, they could have avoided fighting. What I do love about them is even though they fight, their love just keeps on growing. I’m not sure if it’s just me or it’s really the case, but Four seems to go out of character from time to time. I can’t help but feel like he’s sometimes a lot different from the Four I got to know from the first books. Maybe because he’s Tobias now. There was a pattern in the story which I realized after reading. After escaping from one faction HQ, they would seek refuge in another. It’s one of the things that had me at the edge of my seat. The suspense of the chase and what would happen to them kept me intrigued. In the end, the factionless played an important role. They held a secret I did not expect and it caught me by surprise. While some of my questions were answered, a lot more popped up. Despite the inconsistencies, I couldn’t put this book down. I wanted to know what’s next, how it will end. I loved the suspense, the love story or lack thereof, and everything else about this series. It could have used more Four though.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

In a futuristic world where society is divided into 5 virtue-based factions — Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent), Beatrice Prior must choose between her family and embracing who she is. During the competitive initiation, she has a hard time determining who her real friends are and also finds herself developing a love interest. She also discovers a secret about herself, and as the seemingly perfect society unravels, she realizes that her secret may save her loved ones and everyone else. I came across the book Divergent when I was browsing a book blog and saw its image on the sidebar. I checked it out in Goodreads and found out what it was about. Some friends have read it and gave different ratings. I was intrigued and curious that I got myself an ebook and decided to read it right after I finished reading Delirium. I was excited to find out what the fuss was about. A lot of people seemed to love this book and I wondered if I would like it too. At first I thought it was a bit lame, factions were made based on one’s character, and surely, we don’t have just one. But I shrugged it off and decided to get it over with. There was something off with the construction of this fictional world and I can’t put my finger on it. After choosing a faction, whether they choose to stay or to transfer, they would undergo initiation to show/prove they made the right decision and truly belong in their chosen faction. But if they fail or decide to quit, they would end up factionless which according to the story, is worse than death. The idea of being factionless or how one would end up factionless seems stupid. Death is also taken lightly and a murder wasn’t investigated. The lack of accountability over a life is unsettling. Another thing I noticed is some descriptions were not delivered well, I sometimes find it hard to picture a particular place or incident in my head. I don’t know if I just didn’t understand it in the first place or it was really poorly described. Maybe if I read it again I would understand it better. Four’s true identity was revealed when he showed Tris his fears. Not only do we find out who he is, but we also learn how he got his nickname. I thought it was lame at the time I was reading that part, but now that I’m writing about it, I don’t remember why I had such thought back then. What I don’t know is who the woman on his 3rd fear was, it seems random, like a filler. ** April 19, 2014 update ** In the movie, Four explained that it is his fear of hurting or killing an innocent. That’s why it seemed random. As I kept reading, the more I got invested in the story. I didn’t mind its flaws or Read more