Rachel and Megan Ramble About Insurgent

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
From Goodreads:

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

Rachel: Oh. My. God. This. Book. Holy. Wow. Divergent is one of the best books ever, so obviously I have been super excited for the next installment. I didn't think things could get any better in Insurgent. I thought Divergent had set the bar too high for any other book to possibly live up to it. Yeah...no. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Divergent, so I'd probably rate it about a million stars. And Insurgent? A BILLION STARS. This is the first book in a really really long time to completely and crazily exceed my super high expectations. 

Megan: OH MY GOD YES! There aren't words for how good this book is! I love when I feel like I'm literally getting sucked into a book, and that's how this one was every single time I opened it. I love the world Veronica Roth created in Divergent, because sadly, I can kind of see it actually happening sometime in the future. Cause, you know, people are stupid. Plus, how can you NOT love Tobias?? OHMYGODHE'SSOHOTAHHH Yeah, okay so I'm a BIT obsessed with him. No big deal! But he's totally mine. *HUGS* *glares at everyone else*

Rachel: WOAHWOAHWOAHWOAH. We will SHARE Tobias/Four (I swear, he goes by two names just to confuse me). Because I love him too. Also, I believe we should probably say something intelligent about the book. So, um. Okay. One of the things I really love about Insurgent is the relationship between Tris and Tobias. They are never overly sappy or romantic, and they somehow manage to always remain logical and smart about their feelings for each other. They have a lot of issues in this book, which is completely natural considering the state of the world they're living in. But they were never all, "WELL LOVE CONQUERS ALL SO WE'RE GOING TO BE TOGETHER FOR EVER AND EVER AND EVERYTHING WILL BE PERFECT". And even when they were fighting and tense around each other, they never acted like, "WELL I HATE YOU NEVER SPEAK TO ME AGAIN I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU". They are always totally realistic about everything, which is so refreshing and wonderful.

Megan: I know! It was so refreshing to see a couple who could fight and have arguments, but then turn around and be civil to each other at the same time. They didn't drag everyone around them into their problems by refusing to speak to each other. Plus, I love Tris. She is so completely bad ass!! But at the same time, she's human. In this book, she has to go through SO MUCH. When that happens with characters, there is a very fine line between them being crazy overemotional and annoying, being normal, and being so stone cold that you wonder how an actual person could react to their situation like that. Veronica Roth got that PERFECTLY. Tris goes through ALL OF THIS CRAP ALL AT ONCE, and, ready for this? She. Isn't. Okay. She has issues, and problems, but it made the book SO much more REAL that way. And she still managed to be incredibly brave, strong, and kick ass while losing it a little bit on the inside. I kind of wish I was her.

Rachel: YES. I really have nothing else to add to that. I mean, Tris is a badass and I love her so much. TOPIC CHANGE: I loved seeing more of the different factions in this novel, especially Amity. Each faction was so drastically different from the others, and it was really interesting seeing what life was like in each faction.

Megan: ooh YES!  I loved seeing all of the different sides of the factions and how they're all connected. It was also really cool how Tris was constantly learning from each individual faction and there was something new to learn in each one. There's a bad and good side to each faction, and you really got to see that in this book.

Rachel: *scrolls up* I think we've covered pretty much everything. So if you're one of the three people in the world who has not yet read Divergent...PLEASE VISIT YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY. If you have read Divergent, you are awesome and we should be best friends. Please feel free to start fangirling Veronica Roth in the comments. I would be happy to join you. Also, you should probably just drop everything and start reading Insurgent RIGHT THIS MINUTE. Because it is absolutely amazing.

Megan: Yes! Yes it is! It might even be better than Divergent! (crazy right??) And oh the ending. I did NOT see that coming, and there was much staring at the ceiling and demanding, "WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED." So basically you should read this book like NOW.

Rachel: We hope you enjoyed our rambling! :) Have you read Divergent or Insurgent? What did you think? Let us know in the comments! (But no spoilers, please!)

Oh and by the way, LOOK HOW DAUNTLESS I AM: 

 

It occurs to me now that I'm in a pretty awkward position. But I was trying to balance my phone on a box of tissues and get the clothes and the hair and everything in the shot and also I am a teenage girl so I have to take a gazillion pictures just to find one I'm satisfied with so...whatever. I did my best. 

I'd choose Dauntless not because I'm brave or anything (hahahhahahaha no), but because I love the whole idea of overcoming fear and also wearing black and getting tattoos and dying hair cool colors and throwing knives. Sounds fun, right? :D

Okay so this picture is also in an awkward position. But I also had the same problems as Rachel. Also, the necklace Tahereh Mafi gave me! Woohoo!

Megan: So as cool as I think dying my hair weird colors and wearing black is, I dressed up as someone from Erudite! Why? Well, I'm a nerd, so if you think about it it kind of makes sense. 

If I had to actually choose a faction, I would probably choose either Dauntless or Erudite. I'm not particularly brave, but being Dauntless seems fun, and I think I could learn to get over my fears. Plus I'd get the bonus of not getting weird looks when I wear all black. I could also probably pull of Erudite though. 

We completely fail at taking pictures.

 Anyway.

What faction would YOU choose?