[review] ALLEGIANT BY VERONICA ROTH

Book: Allegiant
Series: (Divergent #3)
Author: Veronica Roth
Rating:

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.

Here’s the deal. Roth had a book that built up a lot of expectations. I love the Divergent series. I think Veronica Roth is a fantastic author, and I did enjoy parts of this book, but for me, it wasn't all there. I also think that Roth, sold the series as belonging to one genre, and delivered a book in a totally different one. The shift in tone between the books is indeed a tough pill to swallow.

Yes, we have dual POV in Allegiant, but they didn't change tones between the two protagonists. I was confused while reading most of the time because often I had no idea from whose point of view i was reading.The characters could not even be told apart from the other. Tobias and Tris both seemed like the same mind.

Tobias' POV sounded very feminine and made him look weak. It didn't sound like man's POV. I mean, he was so bad-ass in the first two and he seemed so out of character in this one. Tris come out one-dimensional, as well as  many of the secondary characters that only served as plot devices. She is condescending  and always ends up being right. And quite frankly I couldn't have cared less for her.

The whole romantic development was irritating. They just didn't act like a couple. They have many problems an  issues... And how do they resolve them?
By MAKING OUT!!

The reveal of the land beyond the fence was interesting, but I expected something more. We get explanation for the Factions and the Divergent and  we learn about genes. GENES? -  Yes Genes... pure genes (GP), damaged genes (GD), genetic anomalies and a bunch of other SCIENCE stuff until your head explodes.



We spent 2 books learning and caring about the factions and what it means to be divergent and then all of a sudden... we come to learn that the factions mean, essentially, NOTHING and Divergent doesn’t really mean what we thought it meant. And the whole explanation was a big letdown. The GP and GD subplot was all over the place and introducing another rebellion while dropping the other one- the one we cared to read about.It jumped around from one uprising to the next – the GDs outside the city, the Allegiant within the city.

Roth tried to shove too much into one book. By the end of the book I was exhausted , trying to remember plot points and who is good and who is bad, and  I had pretty much zero emotional investment in the characters and their fates. My issue with the book is  not because of the ending - in fact that was the only interesting thing for me. I personally don't always expect sweet endings with hope and love and cuddly things, especially in dystopian books. But I think it didn't come with a proper build up of events... it could have been sooo so much better.

I’m glad Roth told the story she wanted to tell. I’m sure she did what felt right for her series, knowing it would be controversial. After all, this is her story, and her series.  In the end  Roth doesn't owe readers a happy ending and readers don’t owe her a positive response.