Book Review

In conclusion, this book has several great quotes that I can take with me. Also, this novel provided me with a great read and an expansive vocabulary that allowed me to improve upon. The plot was well thought out, and was balanced throughout the entire book. In my opinion, I feel the most difficult part of making a book is establishing background of characters. Also, connecting the characters to the readers is even more difficult. Veronica Roth nailed it. I am very surprised that this is her first book. The level of expertise of storytelling is truly demonstrated in this great novel. Can't wait for the next book!

Chapter XXXVIV

Tobias doesn’t shoot and Tris continues to talk to him and he finally comes out of it when she gives him a hug. I'm glad Tris woke Tobias up. In the future, he might be a valuable addition to the team! Tris is elated she broke the simulation and asks Tobias how he did it.  He replies that he simply heard her voice. I can't believe it was that simple. I thought it would be like waking up from a nightmare or something like that. The time to celebrate is short as they realize they need to end the simulation that drives the soldiers. Tris looks at one of the screens where she sees her brother and the others being surrounded by Dauntless and anxiously tells Tobias they need to end it.  Tobias finally finishes some commands and Tris sees the Dauntless stopping and dropping their arms immediately. Tobias removes the hard drive as Tris watches how the outside world is becoming chaotic as no one is sure what is going on.  Tris says they need to go immediately and run back past to where her father’s body lies.  She gets sick and then realizes she has to pull herself together and continue. This would be the worst. I could not see my parents in that condition. They leave the building and Tris sees her brother again.  She has to deliver the bad news about their father and at the same time, she sees Tobias as he faces his father, Marcus. Tris confronts Marcus immediately as he is hugging Tobias, telling him to get away. The others are confused, but Tris tells Marcus,

“The only reason I haven’t shot you yet is because he’s the one who should get to do it,” I say.  “Stay away from him or I’ll decide I no longer care.”

The group quickly determines it needs to flee and moves to the train as Tris apologizes to Tobias for her actions with Marcus.  He tells her she has nothing to apologize for and is still shaken by the encounter. The train will take them toward Amity and although Tris feels safe with Tobias, she is still unsure about having Marcus and Peter with them. As they wait for the train, she reflects upon the fate of her friends and the sadness of losing her family.  Tobias and Tris share what has happened in the last hours and Tobias reveals he may be in love with her.   Tris takes the hard drive out of her pocket and sees that Marcus has been watching her, which makes her realize she’s not quite safe yet.  The factions of Dauntless and Abnegation are now scattered and without any organization.  Tris feels even stronger now that she must become both selfless and brave in her new world. This novel was excellent.

Chapter XXXVIII

Tris faces Tobias in the control room as he holds a gun on her. She places the gun on the floor but he tells her to drop the weapon again.  When she realizes he doesn’t know what is happening, she runs at him, grabbing his wrist. The gun goes off and she is able to make him release the weapon. They begin fighting with Tris desperately trying to figure out how to win in this situation and then says his name.  When he hesitates slightly, Tris is able to get the gun and points it at him. I wonder how Tris developed so much strength to take on Tobias? Talking to him, she tries to get him to remember who he is and knows she can’t kill him. She realizes she has been in this situation before in her fear landscape and chose to die in the past. She doesn’t choose that option this time. She relies upon the words of her father:

“My father says – used to say – that here is power in self-sacrifice.”

She offers Tobias the gun and he quickly presses it against her forehead. She reaches out to rest her hand against his chest and feels his heartbeat as the bullet clicks into the chamber. This chapter leaves me with a large cliffhanger. This event just reinforces the trust that Tris and Tobias share.

Chapter XXXVII

The group (Tris, Caleb, Marcus and Tris’s father) begin running away from Abnegation’s sector of the city and toward the railroad tracks. Tris shows the group how to jump onto the train and figures out that the back entrance to Dauntless is the safest way in. Marcus tells her she must regret choosing Dauntless but Tris tells him no – she had some things to learn.  Her father asks if it was bravery and she says:

“How to be selfless, “ I say.  “Often they’re the same thing.”

As they reach the glass building above the Pit, Tris tells them they will need to jump onto the roof.  She realized that it was one of the hardest things she had done at the time, but now it seems like nothing after all she’s faced since then. It's amazing how far Tris has come. The jump was the biggest thing she had ever done and now it's nothing to her. The group make it to the roof and then Tris tells them they need to make another jump into the net. Tris has developed a plan during their journey and leads them down the hallway that leads to the Pit. She realizes there are guards around and tells the group to stay put while she checks it out.  She runs into Peter who isn’t one of the sleepwalkers and injures him enough to get a gun to his head. She finds out he didn’t take the serum as he was already murderous. She shoots him in the arm to get him to talk and tell her what she needs to know.  He says he will if she takes him with her which she realizes she has no choice. It's about time Tris gets revenge. When Peter almost killed her after the second stage of training, it made me angry. The rest rejoin Tris and Peter directs them to the 8^th floor of the glass building.  As they make their way, Tris argues with her father over choices she’s made.  Caleb stops the argument and they focus on their task – which Tris asks her father if she should let the guards go ahead and kill her.  Her father says to go and “God help you”.  Tris kills and injures the guards as she makes her way, but one guard helps her.  She realizes he must be Divergent.  The group then follows but Tris wants Caleb and Marcus to stay behind with Peter as she knows she probably won’t be returning alive. Tris and her father enter the elevator and go up to the 8^th floor where guards await. Tris shoots the guards and others run down the left hallway which makes Tris think this is the direction of the control room. Her father then jumps out of the elevator, taking the right hallway so the Dauntless guards follow him. I can't wait to see what the movie does with this scene. There are so many possibilities the director can do with this. Hopefully there will be a trailer for it. He is shot but keeps firing at the guards, taking them all down.  As he is dying, Tris looks at his eyes and he appears to say something but dies. He was another great Abnegation and parent. Tris knows she has to keep going to save Abnegation members and enters the control room, looking at walls of screens showing various parts of the city. Then in front of the screen is a Dauntless soldier, Tobias.

Chapter XXXVI

As Tris flees, she shoots at the guards who follow her and then only one is chasing. She realizes this is Will and as he points his gun at her, she is forced to fire back, killing him. It's sad that all of these characters have to die. But, that develops a question. Which characters will replace them? Tris makes it to where her father and brother are, using the code to knock. Caleb brings her inside where Tris sees many familiar faces and they tend to her wounds. I wonder how long Tris had to endure that bullet wound? Tris discovers Caleb left initiation into Erudite when he found out what was happening. This was a smart move or Caleb could have been in the middle of a war. After her father removes the bullet from her shoulder, Tris tells them what happened to her mother and Tris realizes true bravery:

“It isn’t just brave that she dies for me; it is brave that she did it without announcing it, without hesitation, and without appearing to consider another option.”

Tris realizes it is her job now to save the others because her mother told her to save them. Marcus appears and suggests the group leave and go to Amity. Even if Amity was injected with the sleepwalker serum, would they still go to war? Or would the truth serum conflict with the chemicals in the liquid? He asks Tris if she knows the Dauntless strategy which Tris explains it is not Dauntless but Erudite who control the fighting and the sleepwalking Dauntless. As the group takes this in, Tris realizes they need to wake them up and take away Erudite’s army.  By finding the computers that control the simulations, they can destroy the programs.  Tris remembers Jeanine was talking on the phone with someone about not leaving something undefended and then sending Tobias to the control room.  She knows the program must be at Dauntless headquarters and they need to go there.

Chapter XXXV

Tris awakens in a small tank and realizes she is not in a simulation and will die.  She knows this but doesn’t want to die this way:

“If I refuse to give up now, it will look brave to whoever watches me with that camera, but sometimes it isn’t fighting that’s brave, it’s facing the death you know is coming.”

As she fights to break out of the tank, she realizes the camera is there to watch and learn from her reaction.  Tris stares at the camera as water rises in the tank and Tris remembers her mother submerging her in water as a baby to give her to God.  She realizes she hadn’t thought about God for a long time and it becomes natural.  The water fills the tank and she floats, remembering her father and thinks she sees a dark figure of her mother.  Suddenly the glass breaks and Tris is thrown out of the tank.  Her mother tells her to run and they make their way out of the cell, stepping over dead Dauntless guards. So many characters care for Tris. Tobias, now her mother? If it wasn't for her, Tris could have been in big trouble. Tris realizes her mother was Dauntless when she sees a tattoo and has a number of questions but her mother says they need to go. As they move through Abnegation headquarters, Tris finds out her mother is Divergent and was advised to choose Abnegation for safety.  Tris doesn’t understand why the Divergent are such a threat to the leaders and her mother explains how the Divergent can’t be controlled like the others. I think Divergent people could be a threat because they are smart enough to rebel against the factions. That could lead to severe consequences for the faction. As Dauntless guards bear down on them, her mother tells her to go to her father and brother as she distracts the guards.  Tris refuses but obeys and looking back, sees her mother shot down. This is so sad. She truly is an Abnegation. Although she is distraught, she knows she must do as her mother said and be brave.

Chapter XXXIV

Tris and Tobias are taken to Abnegation headquarters and brought to Jeanine, who quickly hangs up the phone. She remembers Tris and isn’t surprised she is a Divergent rebel, but is surprised by Four.  She wants to know how he eluded her and Tobias stands up to her. She says she will eventually figure it out and considers this a project to uncover the Divergent mysteries, especially why they usually come from the Abnegation faction.  Tris realizes Jeanine wants to control the factions as Tobias and Jeanine continue and Jeanine explains her plan further.  Jeanine seems more like a problem-solving machine than a person to Tris:

“Divergence is just another problem for her to solve, and that is what makes her so terrifying – because she is smart enough to solve anything, even the problem of our existence.”

Jeanine tells Tobias he will be used as the first test subject for her new serum that manipulates a person’s will. It appears to me that there are a million serums out there. This has to be like the fifth one this book! After she says Tris will be executed, Tobias kisses Tris and then tries to choke Jeanine. I feel bad for Tobias. All he wanted to do was help Tris and now he is being punished by being brainwashed. Tobias is restrained and given the new serum which immediately makes him confuse a friend as enemy.  Jeanine sends him to the control room and Tris to room B13.