Review: Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth

Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: October 22, 2013
Pages: 526
Source: Bought
Rating: 3 Stars

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. 

This review is spoiler-free

In short: Allegiant by Veronica Roth was a letdown, but still a passable finale to a memorable series.

I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts about Allegiant into words, probably because they're all over the place. And I'm not entirely sure how genuine my feelings are as I experienced something of a reading slump while reading Allegiant. It took me three weeks to read it. THREE WEEKS! And this was a book that I had been dying to read for over a year. I am unsure whether I fell into this slump prior to reading Allegiant or whether it was Allegiant that started it off, but either way, I am disappointed that I experienced one during this eagerly anticipated read and I was disappointed with Allegiant on a whole.

Divergent and Insurgent were such exciting and completely enthralling reads for me. I was plunged into this dystopian world with a totally fascinating faction system and it was like I could just never get enough of the story and the characters. Allegiant, on the other hand, was a discordant note; it felt like it didn't belong with the first two books in the series. A good portion of Allegiant was slow and weighed down with exposition. It was only maybe the last 100 pages or so that returned to the level of excitement prominent in Divergent and Insurgent. I was happy to finally get an explanation into the faction system, but I was a bit disappointed with the weakness of said explanation and the pseudoscience that was supposed to support it.

Tris and Four continue to be incredibly flawed characters, but while I used to love that about them in Divergent, it has gotten increasingly frustrating over the course of the series. I used to love their strength and confidence, but at some point I became a bit weary of their condescension and irrationality. I understand why the dual point of view was introduced, but I can't say I was a huge fan of it; Tris and Four have virtually indistinguishable voices. I also wasn't really into their stolen make-out sessions scattered throughout a largely depressing story. Mmm, nothing like sexy times among the death and grief of an entire city. Not.

And then there is the ending that has everyone in an uproar. While I applaud Veronica Roth for the brave ending and while I believe she means it when she says she didn't write it for shock value, I still wasn't a fan. I suppose it could be that I missed the point completely, but I don't feel that that is the case. Rather, I see what Veronica Roth was going for and I recognize that it was meant to be a satisfying and meaningful end to the story, but I feel like she missed the mark. She tried for meaningful, but instead delivered an ending that really didn't need to happen (the plot holes in Allegiant were numerous, by the way). I can accept less than happy endings, but there needs to be a good reason for them.

I realize that I've had a lot of negative things to say about Allegiant and while it's true that I was definitely disappointed, I did like it enough to be glad that I read it. It didn't ruin the entire series for me like it supposedly did for lots of people. I admire Veronica Roth as she is a good writer with good ideas, but I think she maybe took on too much for Allegiant. She had too many things to wrap up and only one book to do so. The end result was only somewhat satisfying because while we got the answers we'd been wanting, some of them seemed too convenient and some of them a bit insubstantial. Overall, Allegiant was a letdown, but still a passable finale to a memorable series.

Previously, my reviews for Divergent and Insurgent.

Other Reviews:
Alison Can Read
Burning Impossibly Bright
Late Nights with Good Books

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