Book Review: Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Divergent #3) (no spoilers)

Book: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
Series: Divergent #3
Publication: October 22nd, 2013
Source: Local Library
Read: January 12th-January 20th
Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

*May spoil previous books in the series*
My Thoughts:

If the Divergent trilogy has taught me anything it is that choices make you who are. We have followed Tris though two previous books as she makes her choices in this faction-based world. Allegiant is Veronica Roth's first book in the trilogy that changes viewpoints. I do have to admit that at first I didn't like it going back and forth between Tris and Tobias. It confusing me who was talking when I stopped in the middle of a chapter. I just don't think that Tris and Tobias had different enough voices for the back and forth to work flawlessly. It wasn't until the end that I truly accepted and understood why Veronica Roth took this step towards back and forth viewpoints.

Although I love Tris and Tobias. I love a lot of the characters for me there were parts in the middle that I believe dragged on a little. With the back and forth viewpoints I do believe I grew closer to Tris and Tobias in this novel. I continue to love how brave both of their characters are. The romanticist in me would have liked a bit more romance in Allegiant. I understood why Veronica Roth needed to show other aspects of the story instead and I respect her decision to show flaws in her characters. So many novels I have read the characters have perfect lives, but when I find characters that have flaws and show them I end up loving them as characters even more. I feel deeply involved with Tris and  Tobias.

As I said with Insurgent I did find all of the new characters a bit confusing and hard to keep straight who belonged where. I had love, hate relationship with some of the new characters and they proved to be instrumental in the ending of the story. Nita and David were two new characters I was okay with at some points and really hated at other points.

I continue to get to know more about the characters that have made up the Divergent world for the last two novels. Of course Tobias' parents, Marcus and Evelyn play key roles in the novel. Then there is Christina, who despite all she has been through continues to remain optimistic about life. Uriah had to be one of my favorite characters of this novel, which made his ending so much harder to handle. Throughout this series I have always hated Caleb as many people who have read this series would understand. This novel showed a different side of Caleb. There still was a part of me at the end that thought he was getting what he deserved. A part of me expected to see more Johanna in this novel. Allegiant continued to be a very character driven novel in this trilogy.

I really enjoyed getting to know about the outside world in Allegiant. I knew that Divergent was based in Chicago, but in my mind Chicago was all there was to this world. Now I know that there is a world beyond Chicago city limits. I enjoyed that fact.

I'm so glad the ending was not spoiled for me so I will not spoil it for you. Veronica Roth made a very bold choice with the ending of the Divergent trilogy. She risked every Divergent fan hating this novel for what she did with the ending. The ending I would have wanted would have been the easy way. Veronica Roth reminds us that not every story has to have a happily ever after. Things in life rarely turn out as perfect as we would like them to. I think she explored some very important lessons in Allegiant's ending. Love can change people in ways they least expect it. Love is a gift that can't be taken away. The other thing that gave me a lot of peace with this ending is all I know about Tris. Tris is the strongest, bravest character I have ever met and she has proved through these three novels that a) she is a little reckless and b) she is going to do whatever it takes to protect the ones she loves. In knowing what I know about Tris I believe the choice she made was not out of character at all. Although I understand why people might not like Allegiant. I have to say that Allegiant made me deeply respect Veronica Roth as an author. If she wasn't on my list before she is definitely is on my list now as one of my favorite authors and I can't wait to see what this author comes out with next.