Author: Veronica Roth
Series: Divergent #3
This first part of the review is going to be spoiler-free. There will be spoilers later and they will be marked by a warning!
Okay so. I loved the first two books in this trilogy so I was pumped for the third one. Did I love it? Yes. Did I cry? Yes. Did I think it was flawless? No.
I loved the way V.Roth took the story; the world outside of Chicago was fascinating. My only complaint there was that I wish we had gotten more information about some of the genetics stuff, because it didn't necessarily completely make sense to me as it was. Like, I definitely got what it was doing (and I thought it was a very important point and I liked that story choice), I just wish it had been spelled out a little more. But then again, I'm a world-building geek in love with backstory, so of course I wanted more information.
It was also cool getting to see the story from both Tris and Four's perspectives, because they're both characters that I really like and I LOVE the way their relationship is portrayed (real and healthy, with the existence and subsequent talking out of problems; it's one of the best I've seen). My complaint here was that with both sets of chapters narrated in the first person and no significant voice switch between the two, I often had a really hard time telling who was narrating a particular chapter. Their narrative voices were exactly the same, and I tend to have a hard time enjoying books with multiple but indistinguishable first-person narrators.
So yeah, I had some complaints about Allegiant, but on the whole, I thought it was a stunning conclusion to a fantastic trilogy.
And now I am going to talk about the ending. There will be spoilers. DO NOT read past this point if you haven't read ALLEGIANT yet! Seriously, come back and read this AFTER you have read the book.
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Okay, everybody who hasn't read it gone? Let the spoilers commence.
So I was as blown away as everybody else when (seriously! last chance!) Tris died, because it is a seriously bold (and almost never seen) move in YA to kill off the hero, especially when that hero has a love interest. I kind of worried that would happen when perspectives split, because hey, someone else to continue the narrative if Tris is dead and can't narrate. And then I knew it was coming when Tris told Caleb she wasn't going to let him sacrifice himself for the wrong reasons (which isn't a decision I necessarily agree with, but it's one that I love that she made because it's so consistent with her character). But it was still a heartbreaking and kind of shocking scene. I 100% admit to crying.
I know a lot of people are really mad that Tris and Tobias didn't get their happy ending and kind of hate V.Roth for killing off Tris, but I disagree with that mindset. Am I sad that they didn't get their happy ending? Absolutely! Heartbroken! Because they are both characters that I love and I wanted them to be happy! But I think Tris's death was the right narrative course for the story. It was realistic, it was absolutely in character, and... yeah, did I mention it was realistic? And it takes guts to kill off such a popular main character (I mean, excepting George R.R. Martin, obviously), so I applaud Veronica Roth for making that choice. Even though it made me sad. And it was good to see Tobias grieving and eventually moving on, to the extent that moving on is possible. (The way he spread her ashes was another heart-wrenching moment.)
I had some issues with a few things in the book, and there were a few things that didn't quite make sense to me (Tris's memory serum plan, for one), but on the whole, I loved this book and the whole series. Round of applause for Veronica Roth, guys.
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