Review - Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth

Title: Allegiant

Series: Divergent #3
Author: Veronica Roth
Release Date: October 22, 2013

Pages: 526, Hardcover

Goodreads Rating: 4.07 stars

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars

My Content Rating: PG-16 (Sex is not directly described, but some intense violence)

Summary from Goodreads: One choice will define you.

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

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.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

Wow!!  I had to wait a day or so to write this review because my head was just spinning when I put the book down (not to mention the fact that I was sobbing and needed time to catch my breath!).  I think it really helped that I read all three of these books in a row because I really got to see the full arc of the story and the characters that way (without having to try to remember what it was I loved about the first two books).  Plus, this way the series had momentum for me that would have been lost otherwise.

The negatives:

• Failure to communicate.  Once again, there were periods in this book where Tris and Tobias had problems based mostly on their failure to communicate.  Just when I thought that they were going to really work together and face the world as a team, they would disagree over something and then pretty much not talk to each other - it made me crazy!  Tris' lack of compassion also got to me sometimes (for instance, she doesn't seem to understand why Tobias might have strong feelings about his father's sentencing and then, when she does realize it's bothering him, still doesn't bother to talk to him about it).  Now, to give Roth some credit, there were parts of the story where Roth did have Tris and Tobias hash out their issues (and where they made good relationship choices) - I just wish I hadn't had to suffer through their lack of communication to get to it.  (Although, honestly, the relationship might not have been all that unrealistic - lack of communication is a real issue in lots of relationships!)
• I can't say this without spoiling somewhat!  (I'm not giving away what actually happens, but just knowing about this topic could spoil it for you!) 
  View Spoiler :

  Some people will HATE the ending. I honestly feel sorry for any author who is ending a hugely popular series like this one because it seems that there is no way to truly satisfy everyone - all these people who are waiting for their story to come to an end and might not agree with how the author does it. This is one of those cases where I can tell you right now that many people are going to hate this ending. Roth doesn't let all of our beloved characters live happily ever after in a world where all their problems have been solved - nowhere even close to that. I list this as a negative because I know many people will see this as a big negative. Most people will either love it or hate it. But I'm actually kind of on Roth's side on this one - see my note below.

What I LOVED:

• About that spoiler...
View Spoiler :
I didn't hate the ending. Okay, that's not exactly true.  In some ways I hated what happened at the end of the book. But I also felt that it made sense based on who Roth made these characters to be and the type of world they lived in.  Was it painful, horrifying and gut-wrenching when certain characters we've come to know and love didn't get their happy ending?  Definitely.  Was it still amazing?  I certainly thought so!  I will not be forgetting this book any time soon - I can't stop mulling it over in my mind, and that is a sign of a fantastic story in my opinion!
• So many questions answered.  I LOVED that this book answered all of my questions and made sense of a lot of the holes in logic from the first two books.  I mean, I really didn't get why the Divergent were supposed to go out into the outside world and how they were expected to save humanity.  And why was it that people in the factions had such strong tendencies toward specific behaviors?  (It was explained - there was an actual reason based on genetic experimentation that was done!!)  I was honestly desperately worried that the answers I would be given in Allegiant would make no sense, so I sighed a huge sigh of relief when so many things were explained in ways that made sense to me!  Yay!!
• Tobias' struggles.  I loved that we got to see half (or so) of this book from Tobias' viewpoint!!  I was thrilled to see the world through his eyes and to really be able to see and sympathize with his struggles.  Whereas, in the first book (and somewhat in the second), we got to see Tris' vulnerabilities and her struggles with who she was - selfless or brave - in Allegiant we got to see that Tobias, with only four fears, could still be haunted by those fears.  In this book, it is Tobias who doubts who he truly is - what makes him who he is. Is it his genes, his upbringing, his choices?  He struggles to come to terms with all of that and there are no easy answers.  I grew to love Tobias even more in his weaknesses and was that much more behind him when he overcame them!
• The action.  The first half of this book didn't have nearly as much action as Divergent and Insurgent, but I found myself so intrigued by learning about Tris and Tobias' world, that I actually didn't mind much.  The second half of the book picked up the action quite a bit and there were enough twists and turns to keep me constantly wondering what would happen next.

Allegiant gave us an explosive ending to a thrilling series! While it had a few negatives, this is not a series that I will soon forget and I'm not disappointed.  I only hope that the upcoming movie does it justice!  

(I debated back and forth between 4 and 4.5 stars for this book, but when I compare it to other books that I rated 4 stars, I came to the conclusion that, even with its flaws, I enjoyed this book more than most.  From the reviews I've been reading on other blogs, I actually seem to be in the minority by enjoying this one, but I guess our different opinions are what make the world go round!) 4.5/5 stars.