Divergent is the first part of a young adult science fiction trilogy of the same name, written by Veronica Roth. The movie adaptation of the book features Shailene Woodley, Theo James and Kate Winslet. It’s directed by Neil Burger. Watch the trailer to get an impression:
I’ve already heard and seen many people refer to Divergent as “just another Hunger Games/Twilight/[any other YA adaptation]”. I’ve read all of these books – I love dystopian sci-fi, and aside from Twilight, that’s what these books are. While I’m not a fan of the Twilight books and even less of a fan of the movies, I loved The Hunger Games and I loved the Divergent books (although I haven’t yet had the chance to read the final one!).
So, as I’ve actually read all these books, I can honestly say: everyone who says “it’s just another [YA]”, is selling this story short, despite the Divergent movies coming from the same makers of the other two movie series. In the world of Divergent, society has been categorized into fivegroups, and those can’t be fitted into any of these groups are considered a serious threat. While the trailer seems to focus a lot on the tension between Tris (Woodley) and Four (James), which makes it seem as if this is the main story line, it’s not. Admittedly, I thought the romantic interest is a bit of a distraction in the books, too.
The Divergent series tell a story of a system that’s falling apart; no longer can people and their world be organized by their established categories. It tells of a battle for personal freedom, for acceptance – which is all pretty on-point for current events in our modern world, no?
I’m pretty excited to go see Divergent next week at the Perth screening of the movie. A review will follow soon afterwards.
Did you read the Divergent books and are you going to see the movie? If you haven’t read the books, is this something you’re interested in?
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