Skip to main content

Four: A Divergent Collection - Veronica Roth

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers):
Giving further voice to Four (Tobias Eaton), this collection of seven short stories provides the backstory of the "Divergent" trilogy... Fans of the novels are given access to the thoughts and emotions of one of their favorite characters, while also learning more details about secondary characters like Eric, Zeke, and Shauna. Listeners will better understand how Tobias was raised by a tyrannical father and an absent mother and how joining Dauntless was a life-changing decision that catapulted Tobias from a fearful and withdrawn boy to become Four, a strong and confident leader. Two years pass within this collection, from the first story of Four's initiation into Dauntless until he meets Tris in the final stories. - Amazon Review

Category: YA
 
Why I chose this book: It's an extension of the Divergent Series
 
My personal opinion (the review): This set of stories really gives insight into Tobias and his background. We see into some of his inner thoughts and the situations that have turned him into the character that he is when we first meet him in Divergent. Some of the scenes included are Four's aptitude test, his training, his chance to be a Dauntless leader, and his administering Tris' fear simulation. There are also some very short scenes from Divergent, but told from Four's perspective including the knife throwing scene and Tris' jump into the Dauntless cavern.

In a note in the beginning of this collection, the author says she almost wrote Divergent from Tobias' perspective, but ended up not being able to do it. Because she spent so much time writing about the character of Four she already knew his personality by the time she got around to writing from Tris perspective. I feel very much that this collection of stories gives the reader much needed insight into Four for his character to make more sense and to justify some of his actions throughout the trilogy.

It's a fun, easy read that I would recommend to anyone who has read the entire Divergent trilogy.  

Warnings: Death, violence, and drinking are mentioned, mostly in passing.

Movie rating equivalent: PG-13

Protagonist description: In these stories we see Four decide who he wants to be and make choices that develop him into that person. He changes from an unsure, abused "Stiff" into the confident leader.

Point of view of story: 1st person

Book length: Very quick, short stories

Story flow: Thought each of these were short stories, they were well composed enough to feel complete and whole. Each story also integrated very well with each other and the overall Divergent storyline.

Grammar and spelling issues: None.

Character connection: 

For series:
Independent or integral: Integral
If you only have time for one, read: Divergent, but this is a close second.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Game by Terry Schott

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers) What if this life is just a simulation? What if our bodies are in another world, plugged into a virtual reality game, and our entire life is just one play in that game? What would our real life be like, if we could experience several full simulated lifespans, in our teen years, and then enter adulthood? That is the premise of this story. Category Sci-Fi Why I chose this book It was either free or discounted on Amazon, and sounded interesting My personal opinion (the review) Too many inconsistencies. For example: The real world is able to view the players in the game in "real time", but time in the game is sped up, so that a week in real life is worth a decade in the virtual world. How do real world people have enough time to experience the virtual world, in real time, while still being accelerated? Danielle enters the game 3 days behind Trew, but she only ends up being 1 year younger. If a week is a decade in the game, then 3 days should have be...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mark of Fire by Richard Phillips

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Two main stories: Carol, the daughter of Lord Rafel, wants to be a magic wielder. As she learns magic and grows in strength, she is unaware that she is being hunted by the greatest wielder in the world. The second story is about a ward of Rafel's, named Blade, who becomes an infamous assassin and works for the king. The king sends Blade to kill Rafel and Carol, but he warns them to flee instead. Blade wanders, to escape the king's justice, but finds himself in his own adventure. Category : Fiction, fantasy, possibly YA Why I chose this book : Kindle First My personal opinion : I really enjoyed the story line, the world the author created, and the depth of the characters. It was easy to lose myself in the story. I also really appreciate that the story is "clean" - no bad language, no sexual situations, etc. I feel comfortable recommending this to my teenage children. Warnings Language: none Violence: fairly frequent fighting "Adult...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Keeper by Suzanne Woods Fisher

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Story follows the Lapp family, an Amish family in new England, their challenges, growth, and relationships developed with the new housekeeper and beekeeper who have become part of their household, especially the relationship of Julia with Rome (the beekeeper), a traveling unattached "drifter" that resides in stony ridge part of each spring/summer. Category Christian fiction Why I chose this book It showed up on the suggestions page of my library digital borrow/lend site, and it looked like a love story. Other cultures (like Amish) interest me. I knew it would be a safe read love story. My personal opinion (the review) I really enjoyed the love story. It was also interesting to read about an Amish family. It had a lot of spiritual references in the thoughts of the characters and I liked that.  Warnings (language, violence, "adult" situations, death, etc.) No "bad" stuff, but yes death. (I was grateful for the ...
Post a Comment
Read more