Every bit as good as the first volume of Veronica Roth’s Divergent series, Insurgent is another entertaining read.

(In case you don’t know what the series is about – please see the official blurb at the bottom of this review… and here’s my previous review of Divergent)

My take:

One of the things I liked immediately about Insurgent was that the story picks up exactly where Divergent left off and gets on with it. There’s no dithering about to remind us what happened in the last book. Instead we are dropped back into the action as the characters have to deal with the fall out from the devastating events at the end of Divergent.

Another huge plus point (which I don’t think I picked up on in Divergent) is the economy of Roth’s prose style when describing locations. With just a few short sentences she captures the feel of a place and gets swiftly back to conversation and action. This concise approach suits the dystopian setting: flowery, lengthy descriptions would be out of place in a story dealing with a society on the brink of collapse, threatened by genocide.

I’d heard mixed reviews of Insurgent, but I thought it was just as good as Divergent. The only slight disappointment came at the end when the mysterious “information” was finally revealed. To be honest, after the long build-up, I was expecting something more earth-shattering and was left feeling a bit deflated. But never mind. Insurgent has done its job: I’ve already picked up Allegiant (Divergent #3) from the library.

One more thing: does anyone else think the titles get more ridiculous as the series continues? Divergent made sense. Insurgent some sense. But Allegiant?

The blurb:

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves – and herself – while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable – and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

 Claire Huston / Art and Soul