Caution – This review may contain spoilers.
Last week I rushed down to my local Chapters to pick up my copy of Insurgent the morning it came out. A twitter friend had recommended that I read Divergent a few months ago, after finishing The Hunger Games, and after starting out a bit slow I couldn’t put it down. Needless to say I couldn’t wait for its sequel, Insurgent to be released.
I didn’t love Insurgent like I loved Divergent, and I hate that I didn’t. But that’s not to say that I didn’t like it, I just found myself a bit confused by it. Insurgent picks up right where Divergent left off (my review of Divergent is here), with Tris and Tobias dealing with the aftermath of the uprising arranged by the Erudite and Dauntless leaders. In fact the entire book dealt with the aftermath of the uprising and how they were going to proceed and attempt to bring peace back to their society. Too much for my liking.
I found Insurgent to be a lot like Mockingjay for me – in that it wasn’t that it wasn’t a good story, it was just that it was more detail than I felt that I needed to know. Too much narrative, not enough action. So much of what we learned in Insurgent didn’t seem to be relevant to the story and I kind of wanted Veronica Roth to just get on with it. But, I realize that this is Roth’s story to tell, and not mine, so I get it. Just because I didn’t want to know about it doesn’t mean it isn’t important to know. But it kind of lost me in some places.
I also found that, same as Divergent, there was a lot to take in and keep straight. In Divergent I kept having to refer back to distinguish between the different factions and in Insurgent I kept having to refer back to distinguish between the characters. There were lots of new characters in Insurgent to keep straight, when all I really cared about was Tris and Tobias. And that worries me, knowing that there’s going to be about a year wait for the third installment – that I won’t remember who is whom once it finally comes out.
There were also a few inconsistencies in the story – like parts where Tris doesn’t have a gun because she can’t bring herself to hold one again after Will, but then she’s shooting doors open, with a gun, that she’s doesn’t have. I honestly read the same passage about 10 times trying to figure out where I missed her getting a gun. This happened more than once.
I did like that Roth tried to give more dimension to the main characters, with both Tris and Tobias reacting to their dire circumstances the way that they should, and not necessarily the way that you wanted them to. But I was surprised at how often I found myself not liking them which in turn made me not like the direction of the story.
So while I didn’t love Insurgent as much as I did Divergent, I am looking forward to the third book, and I do realize that this is Roth’s story to tell and that story won’t necessarily please everyone. The book ended with enough (was it enough – not sure) of a cliff hanger to get me to hang on until book 3 is released, but I won’t be as anxious for it’s release as I was for Insurgent. Did you read? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
I give Insurgent 3 out of 5.
4 comments
Sharon says:
May 7, 2012 at 9:44 pm (UTC 0)
Gah! Can’t read your review – I’m just in the middle of it. Will be back later!
admin says:
May 8, 2012 at 12:14 am (UTC 0)
OK you have to let me know once you finish!
Sharon says:
May 12, 2012 at 6:31 pm (UTC 0)
Okay, I finished it! I actually liked it but I also had a hard time following along from where it left off and remembering each of the characters. I think when the next book comes out I will read the first two again, then the third because there is no way THIS brain will be able to remember what happened a year ago.
komal says:
May 23, 2012 at 1:23 am (UTC 0)
I truley loved divergent and as happy i was to read insurgent it did not please me as i hoped. it was very hard to remember all the faction and the names of everyone. the one reson i fell in love with this book was because of tobis and tris and i think there wasnt anough of them in insurgent.