Divergent

WARNING:  If you choose to read this book, you will call in sick to work, laundry will pile up, children, husbands and pets will be forced to fend for themselves, houseplants will die...well, not really.  You'll be done with this book WAY before any real damage is done to home or career. You just might be a little sleep deprived, because once you start Divergent by Veronica Roth, you will not be able to stop.

The setting is post-apacalyptic Chicago. In order to ensure a balanced society, the people who are left have been organized into Factions according to their strengths. The Erudite seek knowledge, the Candor value truth, the Amity are peaceful, the Abnegation seek to be selfless and the Dauntless try always to be brave. It has been decided that a person can only belong to one faction, so at 16 the children are tested and must choose whether to stay in a faction that doesn't fit them, or leave their families forever to join another. For once you leave your faction you can never go back; you become factionless. But what happens if you have an aptitude for more than one faction?  What if you could fit in two or three? This is exactly what happens to Beatrice "Tris" Prior. She learns that she is considered Divergent, a skill feared by the powers that be. She must keep her test results a secret, or die. But WHY?? That is what Tris and you, dear reader, must discover.

I read a review that claimed this will be the next Hunger Games, and I completely agree.  Divergent is the first book of a trilogy, the second being Insurgent, which was also riveting! Allegiant, book #3, is available October 22nd, so read them fast before the movie comes out. Seriously, go read. Now.

TBC