"Divergent" by Veronica Roth

From Goodreads: "In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance."

I am very much the sort of person who rushes out and buys a book on its release day and doesn't do anything on a book's release date besides read it from front cover to back cover (I admit, I will neglect everything else while reading the book- whether it be school and homework, eating, or just the daily-ins-and-outs like chores), but for some reason after purchasing this book (admittedly not on the release day, just a few weeks after it was released) I let it sit around for six months before deciding to pick it up- despite everyone around me telling me that I HAD TO READ IT. I think that there were numerous reasons why I took me so long- one reason being because there were just so many other dystopian options at the time to read (my ARC of "Shatter Me", "XVI", "Matched", "Delirium", etc.), another reason was because I couldn't commit to reading such a large book (I mean, this baby is almost 500 pages and inches thicker than most other YA books.) 

And now after finishing it (a mere seven or so hours after I started it), all I can do is shake my head at my stupidity (and kick myself hard) for having waited so long to have read this. This book completely exceeded my expectations (scratch that, admittedly I didn't have really expectations for it- I didn't even know what it was about when I bought it, I have developed this really bad habit of buying books without reading the cover flaps/ synopsis' of the books, I buy them solely because other book bloggers/ reviews tell me to). This book and it has honest-to-goodness made me change my opinion about how I feel about the large majority of YA books that were released in 2011 (mainly that they are lacking- that they could all use characters like Tris and Four). 

Tris and Four? Ugh- I don't even know what to say about them, aside from the fact that they are EXPLOSIVE TOGETHER (seriously, move aside Jace/ Clary and Juliette/ Adam)- I am convinced that they can take over the world (which I suppose is what they are trying to accomplish). Both of them were so complex, dynamic, and kickass. What I think I love most about them is that they truly lend strength to one another- they help one another to live up to their full potential, one never holds the other back (and I think that it is awesome that Tris, who is super short and scrawny, is willing to kick someone's ass, someone who is much larger than her, for Four, who doesn't really need her to being the warrior god that he is, but who still appreciates the sentiment). 

All in all, as becomes evident, I cannot say enough good things about this book. If you have yet to read it I highly recommend that you do so (please, please, PLEASE do not be like me and wait forever to do so).

Rating: 10/10