Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 03/15/2012 While the hugely popular Divergent (2011) welcomed dystopian fans of every stripe with its irresistable concept and hybridization of genres, this sequel is more for hard-core fans—a good thing if you’re a devotee but a bit overwhelming for fence-riders. Rocked by the recent simulation war, the five factions engage in increasingly dangerous power plays to pick up the pieces. Tris and her love, Tobias, both daredevils of the Dauntless faction, are key players in these skirmishes, most of which focus upon the fiendishly logical Erudites and almost all of which are complicated by backstabbers and turncoats. It remains a great deal of fun to watch these cliques-taken-to-extremes duke it out with their various strengths and weaknesses, and Roth delivers the goods when it comes to intense, personal violence (no superpowers to be found here) and compelling set pieces (as when Tris undergoes a public “truth serum” interrogation). Newcomers, and even some old hands, might get buried under all the transposable characters and faction minutia, but those who stick it out will be rewarded with quite the cliff-hanger HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Divergent was the kind of best-seller juggernaut debut authors dream of. With high-profile movie rights already sold, you can bet you’ll see this sequel on everyone’s must-read list. - Copyright 2012 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 06/01/2012 Gr 9 Up—Insurgent continues Roth's dystopian cycle that began with Divergent (HarperCollins, 2011), and the beginning of the story will be confusing to those who have not read the previous book. As the novel opens, the protagonists are undergoing interrogation via truth serum, thus revealing the major events only sketchily alluded to before. This backstory keeps readers disengaged for too long. Roth's saga has at its center the division of humanity into factions based on their performance on aptitude tests. (These factions are Amity, Abnegation, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite.) Originally intended as a benign method of governing, the separation into classes has devolved to the dominance by the Erudites. The members of each faction undergo "Simulations"—gaming during which the participants lose their free will and become killing machines. Tris is a Divergent, meaning that she has aptitude for more than one faction, and is immune to the simulation mind control. She and her teacher, Tobias, join with a group of people called the "Factionless," who form the nucleus of the revolt. Insurgent explores several critical themes, including the importance of family and the crippling power of grief at its loss. One of the novel's finest tropes describes this loss as "teetering on the edge of grief's mouth." A very good read, despite its difficulties.—Nina Sachs, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, ME - Copyright 2012 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 07/01/2012 This sequel to Divergent (BCCB 5/11) hits the ground running with Tris and Tobias on the run from the Erudite, one of the five segregated aptitude-based factions of their society that worked together to keep things running smoothly-until now. Tris (part of bravery-oriented Dauntless) has a rare and secret affinity for multiple factions, making her Divergent, and now that the Erudite uprising seems to be going after the Divergent, she’s in an entirely new class of danger. From dubious sanctuary in Amity to an uneasy alliance with Candor to an even less comfortable alliance with an underground factionless movement, Tris, Tobias, and their small band of refugees struggle to unravel the mystery of Erudite’s motives while barely managing to stay alive through a plot of nonstop, adrenaline-heavy action. At the same time, Tris is increasingly self-destructive in the aftermath of her choices in the last book, creating a rift between her and Tobias. Packed with stunning twists and devastating betrayals, this sequel opens up the world-building to include some exploration of this society’s origins and relationship to the world outside their societal limits, raising the stakes even higher. Fans of the first book will not be disappointed, but they may find the wait for volume three even harder to bear. CG - Copyright 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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