Chasm of Books

Insurgent left us with a broken Tris and with a curiosity of what lay beyond the fence. The whole base of the faction society is in question and Tris is one of the few who is willing to get to the bottom of things, no matter the cost.

Honestly, I mentally prepared myself for Allegiant weeks before I read it. Everyone in the Divergent fandom pretty much heard that the ending was basically going to blow you out of the water. Then, to add to it all, there was the hype of Four also narrating. It's pretty easy to say that expectations were very high.

Tris and Four each took turns narrating for us, and after reading The Transfer, I was really excited. Four's voice was completely different from Tris's in the latter. However, in Allegiant the first or second POV changes were fine, Four's voice was just as I remembered. But after the third or fourth time, their voices just started blending together. So that was a bit of a let down.

The plot was.... not expected but not unexpected either. For me, some of the magic was kind of lost when Tris and Four go beyond the fence and learn the truth. At that point, it was just the work and world building from the previous two books that kept Allegiant from feeling just like every other dystopian out there. Don't get me wrong, it was different but also a bit similar. Then there's the fact that Four is a freakin' hypocrite. He and Tris promise (again) to be honest, and he goes off in the night, learns something important, and doesn't tell her when he should. Four was... frustrating.

As for Tris, I loved her. She really grew. I do feel that her recovery from all of the emotional trauma suffered in Insurgent was a bit rushed. But Tris returned as a strong and more honest character in Allegiant. And I would say, finished her journey and fulfilled purpose.

The ending was the most traumatic thing I have ever read. I was trying not to cry for the last sixty or so pages. I know some people were angry but that wasn't my reaction at all. I'll admit that I wish things hadn't ended the way they did. It definitely wasn't the ending I wanted. But Miss Roth handled it all very well if you ask me. Now that its been a few weeks since I finished, I see the symbolism behind this traumatic event. It brought this character full circle. Literally.

All in all, it was a great book but it wasn't the ending I wanted. All things considered, Miss Roth tied everything up pretty nicely. I commend her for daring to write the ending she wanted and saw instead of the ending readers would have dictated.