Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

  
  Title: Insurgent
  Author: Veronica Roth
  Publisher: Harper Collins
  Publication Date: 1st May 2012
  My rating: 4 stars
  
  Reviewed by: Jasprit
 
  






“People I have discovered, are layers and layers of

secrets. You believe you know them, that you

understand them, but their motives are always

hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You

will never know them, but sometimes you decide

to trust them” 

I don’t think my review could ever fully illustrate just how much I loved this book. But if I loved it why not the 5 stars? Insurgent was so so so close to getting 5 stars but aspects of it left me utterly baffled! Divergent was a book that has quickly become one of my favourites and will always hold a place in my heart. The same could be said about Insurgent. The characters had such a massive impact on me; I thought nothing could compare to the loss and heartache I’d experienced when reading Divergent, but Roth kept the mind numbing and heart shredding blows coming one after the other.

Insurgent kicks off straight after Tris, Four and the others leave dauntless compound, they’ve put a stop to the simulation for now. But what next? They may have temporarily stopped Jeanine bringing destruction and chaos and nearly obliterating an entire faction, but they couldn’t put it past her to have given up just yet. So they decide to go to the Amity headquarters, that’s where most of the other remaining abnegation faction members have gathered, and hopefully they can recuperate and gather their thoughts on what they should do next.

Reading Insurgent felt like I was walking through a minefield, full of endless surprises blowing up in your face. I thought I had given so much of my heart already to Divergent, but Insurgent grips at your heart a different way, you see a side to characters that you never expect to see before, and you gain a deeper understanding and knowledge about the other factions and just what it means to be part of that faction. And who would truly sacrifice and put their life on the line to help keep their faction alive.

Tris in Divegent truly was dauntless, she did what she had to do to make it through her initation, even with her having to constantly watch her back with people trying to kill her, she fell down but she got up again and showed no mercy. The Tris we get in Insurgent I never thought I would see, she’s broken after losing her parents, feeling guilty over Will and edging precariously close to giving up. What’s happened to the dauntless Tris who took risks but also showed she cared? She’s become a lost individual who can’t even hold a gun, but will walk right bang in the middle of something dangerous putting her body on the line time and time again.

With Four I was hoping that we would get to see a different side to him in Insurgent, get to know him a little more. And did we alright? I honestly can’t explain how he affected me. On the one hand you could get the angry over protective Four, who was frustrated with everything especially with some of Tris’s decisions. Did I like this side of four? Hell yes! He could come across as a little over-bearing but we knew the reason why he was doing it was because he cared. Then there was the whole other side, gosh I don’t think I ever want to see that side of him again, it truly broke my heart.

It was great re-connecting again with some of the characters from Divergent. There were still some scenes of banter which I pretty much enjoyed, however there was always that sense of foreboding not knowing when the next attack would come, who could lose their lives, which pretty much put a dampener on any feelings of fun that we got to see in Divergent.

Insurgent was a mind blowing read; Roth sure knows how to create a book which has you experiencing so many different emotions in quick succession. And the ending? What does it all mean? I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a book so much as I want right book 3 right now!

Favourite quotes:

“Sleep, he says. I’ll fight the bad dreams off if

they come to get you.

With what?

My bare hands obviously”.

“Got that gun?

No, says Tobias, I figured I would shoot the

bullets out of my nostrils, so I left it upstairs”