Now that I know just how retcontastic these books are, sticking strictly to publication order seems like the only option. It’ll probably still be a mess, but maybe it’ll be possible to plot the overall trajectory at least.
And so, we dive into The Transfer, another ebook. This one is at a bit more meaty than most of these things we’ve seen. (more…)
Divergent actually contains a total of eight books at the moment due to the ebook cashgrab thing. Four of those take place before the rest of the books, so I’m not sure what they might have spoilers for and when they should be read, but one is a retelling of a scene that happened in the middle of Divergent, so I figured it’d be fair game.
Remember that knife scene? It’s time to hear what it was from Four’s POV! (more…)
The Divergent movie is exactly what you expect out of a movie – the plot is more streamlined and a lot of the poorly explained bits work better, but they had to be papered over by standard cliches, and it starts a lot stronger than it finishes. The end result is not particularly interesting. (And since the no-plant-life thing was just an artifact of bad writing and this city is covered in green, I can’t even enjoy the question of wtf happened to mess the world up so badly.) The opening sections were great and an all-around improvement, though. (more…)
Last time on Dauntless, remember when suicide was wrong? I miss those days. (more…)
Today on Dauntless, scene after scene after scene showing why the fear simulations were a bad idea. (more…)
Last time on Dauntless, they’re “divergent rebels” with guns aimed at them.
Now they’re mysteriously not being shot. (more…)
Last time on Dauntless, Tris manipulates the fuck out of that simulation and makes it obvious to anyone with a tenth of a brain that she’s divergent. Presumably we will now find out no one in the setting has more than 9% (more…)
Last time on Dauntless, wait, so the Erudites actually are evil? That’s a shitty plot development but it is kind of a twist in that I expected there to be a twist. (more…)
Last time on Dauntless, she flubs the test run of the fear landscape. Incidentally, I’ve typed Dauntless so many times it doesn’t look like a word. (more…)
Last time on Dauntless, suicide, finding out about Four, continuing to reject the idea the Erudites have any point, and kissing. (more…)
“TRIS.”
In my dream, my mother says my name. She beckons to me, and I cross the kitchen to stand beside her. She points to the pot on the stove, and I lift the lid to peek inside. The beady eye of a crow stares back at me, its wing feathers pressed to the side of the pot, its fat body covered with boiling water.
“Dinner,” she says.
Well that smacks of faux deepness. (more…)
I OPEN MY eyes to the words “Fear God Alone” painted on a plain white wall. I hear the sound of running water again, but this time it’s from a faucet and not from the chasm. Seconds go by before I see definite edges in my surroundings, the lines of door frame and countertop and ceiling.
Well, that’s a good opening. It’s a shame my first thought is wait, they have a concept of God? (more…)
Last time, Tris got eaten by birds who I guess symbolized her family.
Today, Tris goes in for a new nightmare. (more…)
Last time on Dauntless, stage one initiation complete! Two characters we barely knew were lost. Better than the Hunger Games in that they had names and were mentioned a bit, worse than Battle Royale in that they didn’t have much else. Also Tris is still divergent except for the part where she’s totally Dauntless. (more…)
Last time on Dauntless, her mom was born Dauntless which is a huge shock because it’s not like the last few chapters have been about how transfers exist and can exemplify the traits of their new faction. Also something something divergence is important we swear! (more…)