Allegiant - Veronica Roth

Oh I’m sorry Ms. Veronica Roth. Can you help me out for a second? I seem to be having a difficult time getting this knife out of my back that you stabbed so deeply in my back.

“The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.”

So a couple things first:

1. I’ll try to keep this as spoiler free as possible. However, there might be a few plot things that will be mentioned for this review. Okay actually, I’m going to spoil this book. But there is a warning to see keep your eyes open.
2. My nice things about this book are limited. Oh…and there might be a few curse words. Yeah. (Well I am a pirate after all. What did you expect?)

Okay, now with that out of the way, we can start the review on this book. And I suppose the first thing I should start off in saying is that it has been a while since I have felt completely and utterly betrayed as a reader. Truly. I feel like the whole success of the Divergent series might have gone to Ms. Roth’s head in that she can write whatever she feels like. Or maybe, at the end of Insurgent, wrote herself into a corner and thought, “well crap…what do I do now?”

For those who don’t remember, the end of Insurgent left us with a cliff hanger with a video of a woman named Edith Prior pretty much saying that Tris and her the factions way of life is a lie. I am summarizing of course. So, as to be expected Evelyn and her factionless army take over and now it is one dictator for another. And what happens in this short amount of time? A rebellion is formed in a group called Allegiant. Tris and Tobias are recruited and they leave Chicago, met with an outside world of despair and desolation. We learn about genetic manipulation caused a war and that’s what created experimental cities, like Chicago, to produce eventually genetically pure individuals. And….then all sorts of bullshit mayhem and chaos occurs.

Now, let’s talk about my main issues with this book.

First off, the structure of the book suddenly changes from the first two books. With Divergent and Insurgent, we see the world from Tris’s point of view. But now, suddenly, there is a back and forth between Tris and Tobias/Four’s. This, in the long run, should have been a hint about where this story was going to be going. Though the writing is okay, I felt like there was so much being forced onto Tobias/Four’s. It felt forced and uncomfortable. I get that we are getting an inside look at the “true” Tobias, away from his reputation as the legendary Dauntless member Four, but come on. He finds out he’s not Divergent, and suddenly he is super whiney and woooo is me? He jumps head long into a rebel on the Compound that runs the Chicago experiment which results in the death of a friend? No. I don’t buy it. Tris is the only character that I feel we should really care about.

Second thing on my Pissed Off List: The whole plot of the book. To me, it felt like a complete slap in the face from the beautiful, terrifying and unique world that was created in Divergent. Though it started to fall a little apart in Insurgent, I was able to forgive certain elements because it still felt like a natural development of the Tris’s story. This felt forced. I can suspend my own personal sense of reality for a book; because that’s what books are suppose to do: suck us in and transport us to a new place. But this is such a sharp turn from what I feel was the natural progression of the story. I just couldn’t believe it. Suddenly, there is a government agency that is running experiments in large cities due to genetic manipulation that pretty much screwed up mankind…and there are terms like “genetically pure” and “genetically damaged” being thrown around all willy-nilly like. Oh, and this government agency monitors Chicago constantly and sometimes they interfere…and not in a good way. It’s like Big Brother of 1984….but lacking drama, mystery and follow through….and it failed completely.

And the third thing that totally had me writing in betrayal….well, it’s a spoiler. So, if you haven’t read this book, just scroll to the end. Because yeah, I can’t keep this spoiler under wraps.

****SPOILER TIME****

Well, Veronica Roth kills a main character. Like an important main character.
She KILLS TRIS. Kills her. Nay, MURDERS her. Pointlessly. Just a complete waste. You know what it makes me feel like? Makes me feel like I completely wasted my time reading the entire freaking series. We are supposed to believe that this was some great sacrifice Tris was making for the good of the ones she loves. Total bullshit. I just…damnit! Son of a…..grrrrrr!!!!!
Here’s the thing, I have no issues with an author killing off a main character. As long as it feels natural and something that the character needs to do. This, Tris being shot down in the back…just…I have no words to describe the bad taste in my mouth this book left after reading that part. I am one how loves a good twist…but it needs to be a twist that makes SENSE.

****END OF SPOILER TIME****

On Goodreads, I gave this book three stars because it’s not completely awful. The writing is good. The characters, for the most part, are well developed. I feel like I gave this a three just because the first two books were grat. We don’t really here anything more on Edith Prior and her video, which is really kind of lame since you know, the end of Insurgent made it seem like a pretty big deal. I just feel like my trust as a reader that I give to an author was totally thrown away like it meant nothing. Complete and utter betrayal. And after this whole book series ending the way it did, I don’t know if I will ever read another Veronica Roth book again. There you go. I said it.

Then again, this is what happens when you stab your loyal readers in the back with such a lame ass ending.

Until next time. Remember to always be yourself…unless you can be a pirate. Then always be a pirate.