This Issue in Young Adult Cutlure: "Allegiant"

Fans of the rebellious Tris Prior are in for a surprise in the final book of the "Divergent" trilogy, "Allegiant." However, this surprise isn't necessarily pleasant. Even though some parts of the book are interesting (i.e. the climax), author Veronica Roth's writing seems to fall a little flat. Roth piles in many factors such as unneeded subplots into the book and leaves parts of the main plot underdeveloped. In fact, it feels like Roth decided to cram as many ideas as she could into "Allegiant." This made what could have been a spectacular end to the trilogy into something almost mediocre.

In this last book of the series, Tris (the main character) and a group of her friends travel outside the fence of Chicago. There, the team, called the Allegiant, learns about the secrets of Chicago, including how the city is just a government experiment to fix those who are genetically damaged, or not Divergent. Ultimately, they try to shut down the government’s genetic experiment once and for all.

When I started the book, I was immediately excited. I knew Tris and her friends exploring the outside world could lead to many different possibilities and plots in the book. However, I feel Roth explored way too much. There were so many unnecessary and underdeveloped characters, subplots and climaxes in the book that it seemed like the pages never ended. Even though Roth probably intended to add depth in the book, it only left me confused.

What’s different in this book than the first two is the dual narration. Instead of just Tris’s point of view, Roth also tells the story from Tobias’s, Tris’s boyfriend, point of view. At first I was slightly annoyed by this because Tobias’s point of view was awfully boring. All he talked about was his relationship with Tris, and it became quickly repetitive. Roth seems to have tried to incorporate the emotions of the two main characters to add a little flavor to the story, but Tobias’s part is not well developed until the latter stage of the book when Tobias and Tris start to go on different paths to try and shut down the experiment.

Despite all of this, the book satisfied me. I found the idea of the experiment and the different genetics interesting because it was unexpected. Roth took a simple concept and built a great world upon it. As I read through the end pages of the book, I couldn't help but notice that the words started to clench my heart into everlasting sorrow. Each page turn only led me to more crying, and before I knew it, "Allegiant" was over. Throughout the trilogy, the themes of family versus power and sacrifice are discussed deeply. The end of “Allegiant” provided the truth about these themes, and (without giving the ending away) its impact was powerful.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it wasn’t as great as its predecessors. The bar was set high, and unfortunately, the content and development of the book fell short. However, the themes at the end of the book are ones that we can all relate to, and Roth communicates them effectively and emotionally.