At
one point, I imagined my review of this series to be uplifting and optimistic.
To illustrate this, I insisted a couple of my friends also read the first book,
Divergent, and the sequel, Insurgent, in anticipation of the third
and final book in the series, Allegiant,
that was just released last week. I am disappointed to report that this series
is not worth your time. Much like the Hunger
Games in many aspects, it too had a ridiculous and pointless ending, and
moreover, it was so poorly executed to the extent that I didn’t even care.
To the series credit, the premise is quite interesting. The reader follows a quite likeable protagonist, named Tris Prior, through a crucial point in her life; where within her dystopic society that is divided into five factions based on personality type, she must decide where she should spend the rest of her life. You can see how this basis somewhat resembles the Hunger Games, but I was hooked from the premise of the division based on different personality types, and I kept reading because of the character development, initially. I will admit that I became somewhat invested in some characters.
After the first book, the premise began to develop a little too far beyond its britches. Don’t misunderstand me. I love how YA fiction broaches big concepts in saliable, relatively non-threatening ways. The problem is (and would be for any book or writing of any genre) when a piece tries to take on too many big problems without giving adequate treatment to any of them. It was ambitious for each of the books in the Divergent series to deal with different problems (Divergent: societal devision based on personality; Insurgent with more authoritarian and rebellious political themes; and Allegiant, dealing with genetic (read: racist/ ableist) superiority issues. These are all wonderful issues that were set up quite nicely, but none of which were treated with enough attention. I did not expect these issues to come to a nice and tidy solution, but I also expect more from an author than to just set up (nicely) a premise and let it dangle while starting a new thread. Of course these topics also tie neatly into each other as well, but because the threads were dropped so abruptly rather than thought out entirely, each book almost felt like its own island.
As for Allegiant itself… I have a massive bone to pick. I noticed while reading how Tris was an entirely different character from the start, and that the change was not gradual, but quite abrupt. More disconcerting was Roth’s continued insistence on “killing your darlings”… but I don’t want to spoil anything so I will leave it there for now, though I do want to think more about this “kill your darlings” tool in writing, and question its efficacy.
Two of my major problems with Allegiant, though, I can talk about without spoiling anything. Roth, for some reason unimagineable to me, decided to change the narrative style of the third book, so that unlike the first two that were told from Tris’ viewpoint, Allegiant alternated between Tris’ and her boyfriend Tobias’ viewpoint. Ignoring the fact that it is just pure sloppy to change a voice this late in the game, is Tris suddenly incapable of telling her own story so much that she needs help with some nuance from her boyfriend? An extension of this problem that just makes it even more frustrating for me is that Tris does not even get the last word of her own story. This seems like so much wasted in effort in trying to build an admirable heroine just for Roth to undermine herself in the ninth inning for no good reason.
My other major problem I can equate to my major problem with the Hunger Games Trilogy, and namely Mockingjay. In imagining the target audience as being young, impressionable adults, it is important to expose them to the realism of the world. I understand that. But must we always be in such a rush to insist that the endgame is always: ‘and then everything turned to/remained shit’. Can we not find a silver lining, a reason to instill hope that a person can make a change? The trend in YA endings lately (Hunger Games; The Infernal Devices; Divergent) really bothers me. I would love to see someone on the scene shake it up a little bit. It seems YA authors have found some really creative ways of approaching mother fucking love triangles, you’d think they’d be able to find a unique and not lazy way to end their books?
I don’t feel that I have to legitimize why I spend time reading Young Adult fiction, but I feel that certain really good YA fiction will legitimize itself anyways. An obvious example would be Harry Potter, but for me, one of the many profound moments I have had reading came from the Hunger Games. When Cinna, (for the uninitiated, a fashion designer helping Katniss with her rebel cause) turned Katniss’ dress from a symbol of her oppression into the symbol of her freedom, her cause, and a rallying point for a whole oppressed society, I had tears in my eyes. This moment did more for me as an Arts major than any other person, colleague, or professor did. I still think back to this moment at times when I feel that my training as an Arts major was futile. What Cinna did with his art as a designer was one of the most important acts in the Panem uprising. He had an integral part in the cause, and his training in art, coupled with his compassion and intelligence meant something. I am sure this same point has been made time and time again in literature and in life, but for me, Cinna and his Mockingjay dress were exactly what I needed.
This is why Young Adult literature is important. This is why Art is important.
“Make good Art.” –Neil Gaiman
To the series credit, the premise is quite interesting. The reader follows a quite likeable protagonist, named Tris Prior, through a crucial point in her life; where within her dystopic society that is divided into five factions based on personality type, she must decide where she should spend the rest of her life. You can see how this basis somewhat resembles the Hunger Games, but I was hooked from the premise of the division based on different personality types, and I kept reading because of the character development, initially. I will admit that I became somewhat invested in some characters.
After the first book, the premise began to develop a little too far beyond its britches. Don’t misunderstand me. I love how YA fiction broaches big concepts in saliable, relatively non-threatening ways. The problem is (and would be for any book or writing of any genre) when a piece tries to take on too many big problems without giving adequate treatment to any of them. It was ambitious for each of the books in the Divergent series to deal with different problems (Divergent: societal devision based on personality; Insurgent with more authoritarian and rebellious political themes; and Allegiant, dealing with genetic (read: racist/ ableist) superiority issues. These are all wonderful issues that were set up quite nicely, but none of which were treated with enough attention. I did not expect these issues to come to a nice and tidy solution, but I also expect more from an author than to just set up (nicely) a premise and let it dangle while starting a new thread. Of course these topics also tie neatly into each other as well, but because the threads were dropped so abruptly rather than thought out entirely, each book almost felt like its own island.
As for Allegiant itself… I have a massive bone to pick. I noticed while reading how Tris was an entirely different character from the start, and that the change was not gradual, but quite abrupt. More disconcerting was Roth’s continued insistence on “killing your darlings”… but I don’t want to spoil anything so I will leave it there for now, though I do want to think more about this “kill your darlings” tool in writing, and question its efficacy.
Two of my major problems with Allegiant, though, I can talk about without spoiling anything. Roth, for some reason unimagineable to me, decided to change the narrative style of the third book, so that unlike the first two that were told from Tris’ viewpoint, Allegiant alternated between Tris’ and her boyfriend Tobias’ viewpoint. Ignoring the fact that it is just pure sloppy to change a voice this late in the game, is Tris suddenly incapable of telling her own story so much that she needs help with some nuance from her boyfriend? An extension of this problem that just makes it even more frustrating for me is that Tris does not even get the last word of her own story. This seems like so much wasted in effort in trying to build an admirable heroine just for Roth to undermine herself in the ninth inning for no good reason.
My other major problem I can equate to my major problem with the Hunger Games Trilogy, and namely Mockingjay. In imagining the target audience as being young, impressionable adults, it is important to expose them to the realism of the world. I understand that. But must we always be in such a rush to insist that the endgame is always: ‘and then everything turned to/remained shit’. Can we not find a silver lining, a reason to instill hope that a person can make a change? The trend in YA endings lately (Hunger Games; The Infernal Devices; Divergent) really bothers me. I would love to see someone on the scene shake it up a little bit. It seems YA authors have found some really creative ways of approaching mother fucking love triangles, you’d think they’d be able to find a unique and not lazy way to end their books?
I don’t feel that I have to legitimize why I spend time reading Young Adult fiction, but I feel that certain really good YA fiction will legitimize itself anyways. An obvious example would be Harry Potter, but for me, one of the many profound moments I have had reading came from the Hunger Games. When Cinna, (for the uninitiated, a fashion designer helping Katniss with her rebel cause) turned Katniss’ dress from a symbol of her oppression into the symbol of her freedom, her cause, and a rallying point for a whole oppressed society, I had tears in my eyes. This moment did more for me as an Arts major than any other person, colleague, or professor did. I still think back to this moment at times when I feel that my training as an Arts major was futile. What Cinna did with his art as a designer was one of the most important acts in the Panem uprising. He had an integral part in the cause, and his training in art, coupled with his compassion and intelligence meant something. I am sure this same point has been made time and time again in literature and in life, but for me, Cinna and his Mockingjay dress were exactly what I needed.
This is why Young Adult literature is important. This is why Art is important.
“Make good Art.” –Neil Gaiman
