Module 8: Insurgent

Module 8: Insurgent

Summary: In the second installment of the Divergent series, Insurgent shows Tris’ next move after the massacre and battle between the factions. Tris and Four find themselves with other factions hiding out in the Amity faction. Tris’ guilt for killing Will has left her stunned and unable to use a gun. She hides this from Four and their companions. Tensions rise between the factions as the remaining leaders struggle for control and the safety of their people. Tris and Four’s relationship becomes strained as they fight their way through the factions, traitors, and torturous experiments that Jeanine Matthews conducts on them while they are imprisoned in Erudite headquarters.

Citation: Roth, V. (2012). Insurgent. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Impression: Insurgent continues Tris’ story. However, Tris is no longer the same after killing her own friend and watching her parents die. This is understandable, but the frustrating aspect of Tris’ character is her lack of trust and knack for getting caught in every endeavor. The book is enjoyable, but some of Tris’ charm is lost when she loses confidence in herself and her friends. Although her self-sacrificing nature seems praise-worthy, even that is proven a lie when she realizes she doesn’t want to die and confesses she didn’t really think about death before. This book may be more suited for teenagers who will not be as frustrated with Tris’ teenage flaws, or I may just not have enough patience for this character to grow into a better protagonist.

Review: In this addictive sequel to the acclaimed Divergent (2011), a bleak post-apocalyptic Chicago ruled by "factions" exemplifying different personality traits collapses into all-out civil war.

With both the Dauntless and Abnegation factions shattered by the Erudite attack, Tris and her companions seek refuge with Amity and Candor, and even among the factionless. But the Erudite search for "Divergents" continues relentlessly. They have a secret to protect—one they fear could prove more catastrophic than open warfare; one they will slaughter to keep hidden... Rather than ease readers back into this convoluted narrative, the book plunges the characters into immediate danger without clues to their current relationships, let alone their elaborate back stories. The focus is firmly on the narrator Tris, who, devastated by guilt and grief, reveals new depth and vitality. While taking actions less Dauntless than recklessly suicidal, she retains her convenient knack for overhearing crucial conversations and infallibly sizing up others. Her romance with Tobias is achingly tender and passionate, and her friends and enemies alike display a realistic spectrum of mixed motivations and conflicted choices. The unrelenting suspense piles pursuit upon betrayal upon torture upon pitched battles; the violence is graphic, grisly and shockingly indiscriminate. The climactic reveal, hinting at the secret origins of their society, is neither surprising nor particularly plausible, but the frenzied response makes for another spectacular cliffhanger.

Anyone who read the first book was dying for this one months ago; they'll hardly be able to wait for the concluding volume. (Science fiction. 14 & up)

(2012). Insurgent [Review of the book Insurgent]. Kirkus Review. Retrieved from             https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/veronica-roth/insurgent/

Suggestion: This book would be good for a display on current book to movie releases. Although we always prefer to have the book read first, sometimes the movie inspires a reading which is still a win in my mind.