#45 “Allegiant” by Veronica Roth

1. Divergent – Veronica Roth
2. Insurgent – Veronica Roth
3. Allegiant – Veronica Roth
4. Still Alice – Lisa Genova
5. Not For Glory, Not For Gold – Keith Miles
6. The Mammoth Book of Angels and Demons
7. Last Night at Chateau Marmont – Lauren Weisberger
8. The Green Mile – Stephen King
9. Tiger Men – Judy Nunn
10. The Rosie Project – Graeme Simsion
11. The Rosie Effect – Graeme Simsion
12. The Bane Chronicles  – Cassandra Clare et al
13. Moriarty – Anthony Horowitz
14. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde

I blame the fact that moving back to Brisbane has drastically improved my social life for the fact that this book took me eight days to read. Well, my social life and  the fact that I found this book difficult.

And why is that? Because Allegiant was split into two perspectives: Tris and Tobias’ (well, Four’s )POV. I actually get a little antsy when this happens. Mead did it in Bloodlines because fans were demanding something from Adrian’s POV. But are these additional perspectives really necessary? In Bloodlines the additional POV was justified. In order for the story to go where it needed to go, Mead had to split perspectives. Plus, Sydney and Adrian sounded completely different from each other. They sounded like themselves. But in Allegiant? All these different perspectives did was allow for Roth’s ending. For 98% of the novel, the split perspectives were irrelevant. I could tell that Roth caved to fan pressure and chucked Four’s POV in there. And if that is the only reason for doing something in your book. then it’s never a good idea.

Four’s perspective was hollow. I often found myself forgetting whose perspective I was reading, at least until I saw either “Tris” or “Tobias” written, so I knew I was reading the other guy’s POV. There was nothing to differentiate the characters and that, to me, shows a lack of understanding  of the characters. This really, really annoyed me because Four was such a diverse character who was reduced to a plot device. His voice should have reflected his complexity but instead the whole book sounded exactly the same.

I mentioned the ending just before, so I feel like I should explain why I mentioned it. The ending of this trilogy was completely different from what I’ve experienced with YA.
[BIG HUGE MASSIVE SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE TRILOGY. I’LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN IT’S SAFE TO COME BACK].

Avert your eyes!

 

Tris. Dies. I mean…what?! Since when does the main character in ANY YA serial actually die? This never ever happens! And it was a brave choice on Roth’s part. Even Rowling decided to change her mind about killing Harry by having him miraculously not die at the end of Deathly Hallows. But Tris, for real, ceases to exist. And that floored me. Although, honestly, it shouldn’t have because of the introduction of Four’s POV, but who sees something like a main character’s death coming? I sure didn’t. Whoa. That ending totally took my breath away.

 

[IT’S SAFE TO COME BACK NOW, PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T READ ALLEGIANT]

As for the story itself, I found it tolerable. I was never sucked in like I should have been. I never sat for hours on end trying to devour this book in order to figure out what happens next. The story piqued my interest enough to keep reading, but that was all. And it took me over a week to get to that end. None of the plot developments were overly shocking. Allegiant was just another story about how humanity tries to destroy itself based on teeny differences between individuals. It felt like a cautionary tale. More so than The Hunger Games ever did. And I felt let down.
Not only that, but I felt nothing for the characters. I didn’t cry when something bad happened to any of them. I didn’t feel much of anything at all. When something dreadful happened it was only another twist in the plot. And I should’ve felt something when the characters died or didn’t die. I feel like Roth cared more about her story than her characters. And that bugs me. A lot.

This is a short review because I cant think of anything to say. The story was that forgettable that I can’t remember enough to rant/gush about. And I think that says all you need to know about this book.

★★★

 

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