Insurgent by Veronica Roth

(Divergent #2)
YOUNG ADULT / DYSTOPIAN

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian DIVERGENT series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

“We both have war inside us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.”

I think I enjoyed this more than the first because we got the tense situations of group choosing out of the way, ditching some of the clique stuff that I found annoying. Since there's no trials in this book as part of the Dauntless house, I wasn't maddened by that either.

That leaves the main character Tris, accompanied by love interest Tristan and some fellow comrades from various houses, to group together and try to destroy the foe who wants to crush them all. We go from tense plot moments where characters are betrayed, surprised or intrigued - to some more frustrating moments where bullheaded characters irritate me once again. The ending...well, I'm not sure where it's going but I have an idea, and I'm not sure how well it will work without giving it a chance in the third novel.

Roth writes well enough; she keeps it simple and easily digestible, even if some of the dialogue is overly interrupted. Characters have some mood swings that grow trying but overall they're decent. I'm not in love with any of them - including not being wholly convinced of the rope-tight bond between Tris and Four - but it was clever to have betrayals in the camps among friends and saviors from standing foes.

There's some emotional down time but not much angst, and it works with tense moments when I wasn't sure how the character would get out of the situation. Due to this, it's easy to keep reading and hard to put down.