Divergent

By: Veronica Roth

Narrated by: Emma Galvin

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue - Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is - she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are - and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves.... or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series - dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

©2011 Veronica Roth (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Though Galvin’s narration is concentrated on giving Tris the perfect voice, she never neglects the secondary characters. Poignant moments with Tris’s mother and Four, her leader and love, are subtly nuanced to let listeners hear the terror Tris often hides.... listeners will hold their breath waiting to see if she can survive the day." ( AudioFile)

great story and performance

I absolutely love this series. I have listened to it multiple times and imagine I will again. the reader does a fantastic job of capturing the characters and moods.

This book is a must read

You cannot compare this book to any other book..the entire series is a must read. The narrator is not my favorite personally, but her voices are amazing! I recommend this book to anybody that enjoys dystopian novels.

Use contractions?

Great story, but Galvin’s inability to use contractions-especially in tense moments- reminds me of the ensemble gamblers from Guys and Dolls. It is annoying, see. I do not like it.

This one is a favorite

I’ve listened through the book beginning to end 3 times, but I have book marked chapters and scenes all throughout that go back to all the time. It is a YA love story at its core, but the trials and growth the protagonist goes through are pretty intense. I haven’t read the others because this ended in a way that I felt it was a stand alone. Hint: if you read this one and then read “Four” starting at about chapter 12, it meshes beautifully.

LOVE

This is such a well written book!! The narration is great!! I’ve listened more times than I can count & love it every time.

Solid story

I am thirty-five and I enjoyed this story. It’s more violent and thought provoking than I thought it would be. I had heard about this book for several years. It’s always on the top ten lists of best books written in the past few decades. And I’d have to agree. It is very well written.

I love this book

it is very well Written, have listened to it like a hundred times and I still love it.

great book, great performance.

The book is much better than the movie. The storyline changed so much in the movie from the book, outside the general setup and the character's names, there was not a whole lot there that was recognizable.
I would highly recommend the audio book.
The performer has done a great job in portraying the characters.

Rated for 1st book, reviewed for trilogy

So I often try not to review trilogies until the whole thing comes out and has been read and digested, because I think, "What could be worse than recommending a first book to someone only to have the successive two books suck the life and happiness from the little thrill left by a great first book?" Then I finished this trilogy and had an answer: worse? 2 fantastic books finished with one that makes little sense and ends wholly unsatisfactorily.

I will try not to give spoilers here, so please bear with any vagueries. I try to understand that not everyone will agree with me and refuse to read the series. So...

There are serious plot wholes in the last book. The ending makes no sense. If you think about it too hard- by which I mean almost at all beyond letting action scenes enter your brain and then leave again unrelated to anything- your brain might explode. At the very least, you will be frustrated.

Also, I don't care who you are (and I won't say who), but nobody's death should getmore than a chapter. It's maudlin. It's depressing. It's old.
Even Dobby didn't get more than a chapter, and that was one of the best written death scenes in YA fantasy. It didn't need it, because more than a chapter is maudlin and depressing and all the rest.

The absolute worst part of all of this is that the first two books were excellent and interesting and beautifully done. They are not complete in themselves though, and so can't really be read without the final book. It's like Ms. Roth had this fantastic idea, butdidn't bother to develop the world prior to writing the books, so she just ended up making it up as she went along. I know, it's fiction, and, by definition, made up as she goes along, but she didn't seem to think out the end at the beginning, so the world lacks consistancy, and overwrought scenes of heart-break and radical personality change resulting from said overwrought heartbreak are there to distract us from the knowledge that the Wizard of Oz is just a sad guy behind a curtain. O.K., I'm not sure that analogy works entirely, but I can't think of anything more frustrating than going down this whole road in pursuit of some grand goal only to discover smoke and mirrors and little of substance (O.K., maybe it works as an analogy ).
There is no Wizard at the end of this yellow brick road. There's only road work ahead.

Strong characters, Intense, fantastic

If you're looking for a story with an admirable, complicated, and fascinating young heroine, this book has it. It reminded me of the first time I listened to book one of Hunger Games, though this is certainly unique on its own. Also, the narrator is one of the best I've encountered in the YA section of audible. Wonderful pacing. Easy to listen to. As far as audiobooks go, Emma Galvin and Veronica Roth have made a masterpiece.