Divergent

This weekend it rained, and I read Divergent by Veronica Roth.

Amazing!

It's the story of a Beatrice, a sixteen year old girl living in a futuristic society where members submit themselves to five factions. The story begins with Beatrice choosing which faction to join, the faction she was born into, or one of the other four.

She goes through a grueling initiation process, throughout which she discovers much about herself, her past, and the dangerous truth behind the factions.

I can't tell you much without spoiling it, but it's really good.

One of my favorite things about the book is that it takes place in distopian Chicago. I love Chicago! Beatrice visits famous Chicago landmarks like:

Navy Pier!!...

...the bean!!...

...and the John Hancock building!...

...all of which I visited during my two trips to Chicago in 2007! But in Divergent, these famous landmarks are old, rusty, decaying pieces of a former culture. Lake Michigan is nothing but a swamp. 

It's also a bit violent. There are hints of Hunger Games influence, but this is a different story in a different world. Gone are the days of Twilight love. Distopian is the new vampires. 

Veronica Roth is a fantastic author. She presents her story in a logical, easy-to-understand way. She writes characters that you can respectively love, hate and pity. She's working on the sequel now, and has announced that it will eventually be a trilogy. And guess what? She's 22!

AND...Summit Entertainment has picked it up for the screenplay! I want an audition! Say a prayer for me? I can't think of anything better than being part of a project to make a sick-nasty-awesome book into a sick-nasty-awesome movie. Dream job!

Bottom line: I recommend Divergent. Go, read it now!