Allegiant by Veronica Roth
I feel like what I have become is halfway between my mother and my father, violent and impulsive and desperate and afraid. I feel like I have lost control of what I have become.
*I'm going to give you fair warning before you start this - SPOILERS WILL BE CLEARLY MARKED.
I'm kind of stumped on what to say about Allegiant. I loved Divergent, and Insurgent was okay (it had a little too much relationship drama) but... I really don't have a clue about what to say on this one. I think that my mind might be kind of blown, which is odd because I rated this 3.5.
I liked that Tobias was a point of view in this one, but I have to admit that I didn't love that. I liked seeing in his mind, but sometimes Tris and Tobias just think so much alike that it bothers me. Sometimes I even had to question which character was narrating, because they thought so much alike. So, in retrospect, even though it was fun to read through Tobias's eyes, I really don't think that it was all that great of an idea to have him narrating through out the book. It was just too confusing for me.
Once I got into the story, it became slightly less confusing, which is nice. I will admit to not having read the first two again before jumping right in, so that's probably why we started off on the wrong foot. But I will admit to not understanding why a lot of things were happening. I realize that a lot needed to happen, because this was the last book in the trilogy, but... let me maketh a list of things I didn't understand. (SLIGHT spoilers, that you could possibly get from the synopsis in this list.)
- The Allegiant. I understand that they're a group that wants to restore the factions, and are fighting with the Factionless... but... they're only a part of the story for a brief time. They beam in and beam right back out. Why?!
- How it all started. GP versus GD. The explanation that we were given about that doesn't really make sense. How do you choose, in a situation like that? And how does it really matter?
- In a war ravaged world, how is it possible to keep one city hidden & unaffected from the wars. The government is corrupt, people are dying and you can't tell me that people aren't crazy enough to go into government restricted areas. It's happened before and it will surely happen again. (Dun dun DAA.)
Now, that's my list. I don't think that any *real* spoilers were included. But aren't those all valid points? In an area like that, I don't think that there's anyway that they could have remained hidden. Let's move on. Dystopian societies are hard on me.
Tobias and Tris were kind of odd as a couple in Allegiant. I don't really feel like we got nearly enough couple time, in comparison to previous books, and I actually think that their relationship is getting a little unhealthy. I don't think that in a healthy relationship you would keep things like that from each other, which means we have a little continuation of the relationship drama from Insurgent in this one. It made me sad to see them fight over all of the things, and honestly I would've loved to have seen a more happy relationship.
I liked the addition of new characters, and I hate to admit it, but I enjoyed the fact that everything on the outside is a fight. It made the outside world (ravaged by war!) so much more authentic, in my eyes. Not everything was peaceful, and the peeks into the Fringe were wonderful help with that. People are starving and dying, so I'm glad that this wasn't written to shelter us from that.
And in all honesty, I don't understand the big deal about the ending. I feel like it was perfect and authentic. It's guaranteed that I'll never forget these books, and the fact that it preserved the character that we love should count for something. (To read further thoughts on the ending, please highlight.) [To me, Tris dying wasn't all that unexpected. I knew someone was going to die, I just didn't know who. And by dying in her brothers place to save the people, well, she remains the character that I have always known that she is; fiercely loyal and full of love. She sacrificed her life for her brother, whom she has forgiven and still loves, as well as everyone else. It was perfect. Her divergent abilities allowed her to live through the death gas, and she was shot. It was heroic. It was awesome. It was Tris. Anyone who says otherwise - think about it. If she hadn't died in his place, would you still think that she was the character that you loved?]
All in all, I actually think that you should read Allegiant. It's not near as bad as what they're all saying!
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