Insurgent (Divergent Series #2)

by Veronica Roth

Overview

One choice can destroy you. Veronica Roth's second #1 New York Times bestseller continues the dystopian thrill ride that began in Divergent. 

A hit with both teen and adult readers, Insurgent is the action-packed, emotional adventure that inspired the major motion picture starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, and Octavia Spencer.

As war surges in the factions of dystopian Chicago all around her, Tris attempts to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

And don't miss The Fates Divide, Veronica Roth's powerful sequel to the bestselling Carve the Mark!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062114457
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/01/2012
Series:	Divergent
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	592
Sales rank:	47,751
Lexile:	HL710L (what's this?)
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Veronica Roth is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, Four: A Divergent Collection, and Carve the Mark. Ms. Roth and her husband live in Chicago. You can visit her online at www.veronicarothbooks.com.

Editorial Reviews

In this powerful follow-up to the smash hit Divergent, feisty orphan Tris threads her way through a dystopian world in which warring factions vie for dominance. Earns apt comparisons with The Hunger Games, but this is no imitation.

Gr 9 Up—Insurgent continues Roth's dystopian cycle that began with Divergent (HarperCollins, 2011), and the beginning of the story will be confusing to those who have not read the previous book. As the novel opens, the protagonists are undergoing interrogation via truth serum, thus revealing the major events only sketchily alluded to before. This backstory keeps readers disengaged for too long. Roth's saga has at its center the division of humanity into factions based on their performance on aptitude tests. (These factions are Amity, Abnegation, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite.) Originally intended as a benign method of governing, the separation into classes has devolved to the dominance by the Erudites. The members of each faction undergo "Simulations"—gaming during which the participants lose their free will and become killing machines. Tris is a Divergent, meaning that she has aptitude for more than one faction, and is immune to the simulation mind control. She and her teacher, Tobias, join with a group of people called the "Factionless," who form the nucleus of the revolt. Insurgent explores several critical themes, including the importance of family and the crippling power of grief at its loss. One of the novel's finest tropes describes this loss as "teetering on the edge of grief's mouth." A very good read, despite its difficulties.—Nina Sachs, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, ME

School Library Journal

The next big thing.” — Rolling Stone

“Roth knows how to write. The novel’s love story, intricate plot, and unforgettable setting work in concert to deliver a novel that will rivet fans of the first book.” — Publishers Weekly

“In this addictive sequel to the acclaimed Divergent,a bleak post-apocalyptic Chicago collapses into all-out civil war. Another spectacular cliffhanger. Anyone who read the first book was dying for this one months ago; they’ll hardly be able to wait for the concluding volume.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Insurgent explores several critical themes, including the importance of family and the crippling power of grief at its loss. A very good read.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

The next big thing.

Rolling Stone

The depth and richness of Beatrice herself make this an accessible option for both sci-fi buffs and realistic fiction fans.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

PRAISE FOR DIVERGENT:“You’ll be up all night with Divergent, a brainy thrill-ride of a novel.

BookPage

With brisk pacing and lavish flights of imagination . . . Divergent clearly has thrills, but it also movingly explores a more common adolescent anxiety-the painful realization that coming into one’s own sometimes means leaving family behind, both ideologically and physically.

New York Times Book Review

This is one fast-paced read that sticks in your head for days after you put it down, both because of its video-game-like scenes and its thought–provoking premise.” —Hollywood Crush, MTV.com

MTV

Emma Galvin presents an intense, fast-moving narration as conflict rips apart Tris and Tobias’s world. Futuristic Chicago is broken into Factions: groups of people with similar personalities. Galvin captures Tris’s youthful do-or-die attitude as she escapes a ruthless Faction leader and struggles with her love for Tobias. Whether it’s bloody battle scenes or Tris’s intimate musings, Galvin nails the mood and pacing. Tris’s grief and dread are amplified by Galvin’s heartfelt narration. She conveys Tris’s stubborn nature and Tobias’s steadying influence. This story is train-wreck addictive: You know you won’t like what’s coming next, but you can’t stop listening. Even listeners who are jumping in mid-series will have no trouble following the story. Galvin displays excellent control of a large cast of characters and a detailed story line. C.A. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2012 - AudioFile

In this addictive sequel to the acclaimed Divergent (2011), a bleak post-apocalyptic Chicago ruled by "factions" exemplifying different personality traits collapses into all-out civil war. With both the Dauntless and Abnegation factions shattered by the Erudite attack, Tris and her companions seek refuge with Amity and Candor, and even among the factionless. But the Erudite search for "Divergents" continues relentlessly. They have a secret to protect--one they fear could prove more catastrophic than open warfare; one they will slaughter to keep hidden... Rather than ease readers back into this convoluted narrative, the book plunges the characters into immediate danger without clues to their current relationships, let alone their elaborate back stories. The focus is firmly on the narrator Tris, who, devastated by guilt and grief, reveals new depth and vitality. While taking actions less Dauntless than recklessly suicidal, she retains her convenient knack for overhearing crucial conversations and infallibly sizing up others. Her romance with Tobias is achingly tender and passionate, and her friends and enemies alike display a realistic spectrum of mixed motivations and conflicted choices. The unrelenting suspense piles pursuit upon betrayal upon torture upon pitched battles; the violence is graphic, grisly and shockingly indiscriminate. The climactic reveal, hinting at the secret origins of their society, is neither surprising nor particularly plausible, but the frenzied response makes for another spectacular cliffhanger. Anyone who read the first book was dying for this one months ago; they'll hardly be able to wait for the concluding volume. (Science fiction. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews