Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Last week the most amazing book appeared on my Kindle....

I had previously pre-ordered Allegiant by Veronica Roth, but hadn't made a note on my calendar about when it was due out so I was pleasant surprised when I received an e-mail saying it was delivered to my kindle.

Allegiant is the final installment in the Divergent series and one that I was particularly excited about. If you haven't read the Divergent series, stop reading immediately and go out and purchase them. 

I'm serious- get out of here and go read them now.

So for those of you left, here's what you can expect in Allegiant. Finally, people are starting to wonder what is outside the walls of the city and some of the characters actually are able to venture outside. Also, a war is on in the city and a ton of back story is revealed as to why they were placed inside the city in the first place. 

Okay, now I'm going to get into some spoilers- so if you are planning on reading this book and don't want it ruined, this would be the time to skedaddle. 

SPOILERS.

Four, Tris, and a group of friends leave the city to find out what is in store for them beyond the city walls. They quickly find that their city (also known as Chicago) is the location of a science experiment. A group of scientists are working on creating a race of perfect genes and studying them in order to make society a better place. The citizens that are "divergent" are those who have perfect genes, while everyone else is missing important genetic makeup. 

As they live inside the science laboratories, they are able to watch on camera every single thing that happens inside the city. Four watches as his parents fight against each other for control of the city, not realizing that they are part of an experiment.

Tris and Four have their own set of problems as Four makes some choices throughout the novel that Tris doesn't agree with. However together they are able to come up with a plan to take down the scientists who threaten to ruin the city and people they love.

Unfortunately, Tris completes the hero's journey and dies for her cause. Four is devastated and the book ends with him trying to continue on with his life without the one he loves.

I have to say that I was completely floored that Veronica Roth chose to kill off Tris. I cried quite a bit, not necessarily for her death but for the pain that Four was feeling in the aftermath of her death. I had become so invested in the story that I had trouble coping with the fact that she had been killed off.

Looking back on it however, I think that Veronica Roth was very brave to kill off her main character. Not many authors have the guts to do that. I think a lot of people are looking for a "happy ending" at the end of a novel (I for sure know that I always do!) and it's hard to not provide readers with that happy ending. If you look at similar teen novels, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Twilight...all the main characters end up happy and together at the end. Sure, some supporting characters have died but not the true main character. Killing off Tris took some major guts of Roth's part. Although I wish she hadn't, I do applaud her for have the guts to do so. 

Overall, I thought this was an amazing novel to end an incredible series of books. I am excited to hear that this will be made into a movie! I will definitely be seeing it!