Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Allegiant by Veronica Roth


Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Available Now
Published by Harper Teen
Reviewed by:  YA Sisterhood's Mom
The Sisters (and Mom) Say:  Heartbreaking but realistic and worth the read
The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

For some reason my long awaited, much anticipated pre-ordered Allegiant was due to come in a week after everyone else’s. I moaned, I groaned, I was having Veronica Roth cravings, so I picked up my copies of Divergent and Insurgent and re-read, finishing just as the UPS guy delivered.

I’m not going to lie—I was fearful after reading the reviews in my week of waiting, fears that my heart would be broken with all the “spoiler alerts” that I was carefully avoiding. But maybe because I had just re-read and was back in my Roth Readiness, or maybe because I understood Roth’s realism that a character in a Dystopian novel must and will experience brokenness, or maybe because I truly believe that Roth is one of the top YA writers….whatever the case, I have to say that Allegiant deserves its Goodreads Choice Award for 2013.

We are warned on the book jacket that Tris, Dauntless by choice and Divergent by birth, is shattered as the novel begins, but how could she not be when all things she believed were true are actually lies. Naturally, she would begin to doubt everything—her friendships, the love between her and Tobias, and the very world in which she lives.

The first part of the book will definitely strap you to the whipping post and lash you with one betrayal after another, and just when you feel that you can’t take anymore, that Rothtastic suspense grabs you and takes you on a train ride, filled with all the danger, excitement, and the rush that a Dauntless junkie desires!

The dual POVs were the only thing that bothered me, not because it didn’t work, but because I had fallen in love so deeply with Tris’s character that it was difficult for me to give that up.  I wanted to see everything through her eyes. But it actually matched the separateness that occurs in Tris and Tobias’s relationship. It was necessary for us to see how circumstances were pulling them apart while their hearts were struggling to re-connect.

So in answer to your question, “Is Allegiant worth reading?”….Here are a few questions for you.  Would you walk out of the gym during the overtime of your child’s last senior game? Would you buy a 2014 Corvette and never drive it? Would you have a new baby and never hold it? For all of you Roth fans who have let others dissuade you from reading it for fear of a broken heart, I can only say “One choice will define you!” So definitely choose to finish that wild ride that Veronica Roth created for you and start turning the pages of Allegiant!