Divergent

  Divergent is a book by Veronica Roth that has also been made into a movie (which some of you may have watched). There are four books in the series: Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, and Four. 

      I'm actually in the middle of reading Allegiant right now, and it definitely seems like a blog- worthy series. It's about the world years from the future where in order to better the world, the people have divided themselves into five factions. In each faction, one characteristic that they believe is most important is promoted. When a child turns sixteen, they get to decide what faction they want to be in. The five factions are: Dauntless (who value bravery), Erudite (who value intelligence), Amity (where they value peace and kindness), Abnegation (where they value selflessness), and Candor (where they value honesty).
   They are also given an aptitude test, where they are injected with a serum and placed in an illusion of different situations. The choices they make in the aptitude test tell them what faction they would do well in, even though they can choose otherwise. 
   Beatrice is about to turn sixteen and she was born in Abnegation. And while some part of her can be selfless, she isn't as selfless as an Abnegation is supposed to be and it doesn't always come naturally to her. She's eager for her aptitude test to help her make her choice when it makes things even more complicated by telling her that she is divergent. Being divergent is dangerous. It means that a person can fit into multiple factions, and the divergent are always mysteriously... eliminated.
   Beatrice manages to hide her divergence, and chooses Dauntless as her faction, thinking that she won't fit into Abnegation. She undergoes training and is doing really well. She meets Four, Christina, and Will, and makes friends.But then she realizes why being divergent is dangerous when Erudite uses the other factions to attack Abnegation and take control of the government by injecting everybody with a serum that allows them to be controlled. A serum that nobody can resist- except the divergent. 
   Now, Tris along with her divergent friends have to stop Johanna, the Erudite leader. They win, stopping the stimulation- but they've made sacrifices. So many Abnegation are dead, Tris's parents are dead, and she was forced to kill Will when the was under the stimulation. She pushes towards the end of the book, but her parent's deaths as well as Will's are catching up to her (especially in the second book). 
   I would give the first book of Divergent a rating of 9,although reading the book wasn't very challenging. The vocabulary was simple, and the plot was clear (it was still well written though). 
   A little bit about the author is the following: She was born on August 19th, 1998 in New York, and was the youngest of three children. She grew up in Barrington, Illinois, and began writing at an early age. She's a fan of Lois Lowry (author of The Giver). She loves to read, and her novel debuted in 2011, and became number six on New York Bestsellers.