Friday 25 October 2013

Review: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Blurb: The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered- fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she's know, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties and painful memories. But Tris's new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature- and of herself- while facing impossible choices and courage, allegiance, sacrifice and love.

What I thought: Holy. Freaking. Hell. I am going to have to try so hard to not put spoilers in this review. I am also going to have to try not to type in the spluttered mess of words that is coming out of my mouth right now. It sounds sort of like "But... she... and he... and why why why WHY?... and I just... arghhh...". I know, eloquent right?
There was hardly anything I didn't like about this book. It was amazing. I love Tris and Tobias, and Uriah, and Christina and all the others, so it was good to read more about them. Also, there's just something about reading a book by an author that you're familiar with, but haven't read much of recently, especially if that author is Veronica Roth. Woman, you are my idol. Her writing was so comforting and familiar, and just kind of like a warm blanket (whatever, I'm weird). And aside from all the familiarity of it, the way she rights just grabs you, and pulls you into the story, and doesn't let you escape again until you've finished, and maybe not even then. I know I'm going to have a book hangover from this for so long. Just when I was getting over A Tale Of Two Cities, as well. Damnit...

My only teeny-tiny-weeny problem was that, with the first set of revelations (hah, no spoilers!) I thought it could have been a bit more of a climax. I mean, it was a surprise and all, but I wasn't really shocked. I just accepted it and moved on. And then that became so easily ingrained into the story, and the characters seemed to accept pretty soon after their initial freak-outs, that it was never really like "oh yeah and everything you've ever believed is a lie. Now go panic about that". (Not technically a spoiler, because it does say that on the cover).
Tris. What to say about her? I have always loved Tris, especially in the beginning of Divergent. She's so brave, but in the right way, and selfless, but to a fault, and just so completely awesome. She feels real. She is gritty, and not perfect, and somehow different from other heroines in the same kind of genre (Miss Everdeen, I'm looking at you). I mean, what other heroine shoots her friend, and then tries to sacrifice herself? (Not a spoiler either, at least not for this book) She has problems that the other heroines don't have. Veronica Roth didn't try to make her perfect, she made her a person.

Tobias. Is awesome. In Divergent and Insurgent, he's all badass and cool and stuff, but in Allegiant, when he narrates half the story, you get a sense of how broken he is, and how much he loves Tris. He makes mistakes, because he's human, but he is a good person. He's one of those hero's I completely swoon over, like Jace from The Mortal Instruments, or Peeta from The Hunger Games. I like that you get his point of view, too, because so often in books like this you only get the girl narrating, so some variety is nice.

Okay. We need to talk about the end. I'm not really sure how to do that with no spoilers, but I really really don't want to ruin it for people who haven't read Allegiant yet. Not even as payback to my friends for when they told me what happens at the end of The Evolution of Mara Dyer. That was not cool, and now I'm the only one who knows what happens at the end of Allegiant. I feel powerful. Mwahaha... But seriously. The end. I'm torn between yelling how much I hate Veronica Roth for doing this, crying myself into a puddle on my bed (which I kind of maybe already did), and sending her pages of fanmail to beg her for her secret- how is this book so perfect (admittedly, in a how-could-you-do-this-to-me-I-will-never-be-happy-again-you-dementor kind of way)?

There are a tonne of deep philosophical, moral issues in this book, which, yeah, are really important and required a lot of thinking about, on my part, but that was wiped out by the end. I have not gotten that emotional over a book since I finished Clockwork Princess. Or maybe The Fault In Our Stars. And I'm not going to go into all those issues because I have to go cry in a corner now. And then read a light, fluffy romance book with lots of fancy dresses and dashing young men, and absolutely zero sadness. God knows I need it after Allegiant.


Have you read Allegiant? What did you think, especially about how it ended? Has this changed your attitude towards the rest of the series, and the film? Speaking of the film, I am so freaking excited! It's like Christmas, only without the advent calendar. (Someone should SO make an advent calendar counting down till Divergent comes out!!! You could have bird-shaped chocolates and everything...)

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