My Rating: ★★★★☆
I read the entire Divergent trilogy in about three days or so. I started Divergent on a Friday night and by Monday night I had already finished Allegiant. Maybe I should say that I am a sucker for science-fiction and dystopian literature and a good story about people struggling with difficult lives always gets to me. Throw in a good main character, preferably that doesn't exactly fit in or doesn't know exactly what's happening to them or what's going in with their lives and add to that a good romance with a strong male character and I guarantee I will like what I'm reading. That being said, Divergent was a very good lecture for me and I enjoyed every bit of it.
As I started reading Allegiant I was a bit confused as to where the story was going since the main antagonist had just been dealt with in the previous installment(I'm trying not to give too much away since I don't wanna spoil) but the story turned out interesting and surprising as new enemies came along. Old characters returning, ones that we loved and others that we hated, the point is that we got a bit of everyone we met along the series.
Tris and Four/Tobias were obviously interesting for me because of their issues, their still-developing relationship with its ups and downs, and the fact that they stood strong and were always there for each other in spite of choosing the wrong side or doing the wrong thing made me love them even more. Tris' character grew up morally throughout the series and she became strong and brave(just like her faction required) and while she may have seemed "distant" or "eager to die" to some people, I liked the way that she turned out. Four/Tobias was amazing from th beginning and I think we all grew to love the strong, mysterious boy who does, in fact, have a past, fears and hopes just like everyone else. Even if he became somewhat insecure after learning his "true nature", even if his indirect actions led to the departure of one of the good characters, his heart was always in his right place and his love for Tris was never questioned.
The book had conflict, action, drama and romance, a little bit of everything overall. While some people thought it wasn't as full of action as the previous books, I thought it had a fair amount of everything, from character development to action scenes.
The fact that Tris is able to forgive Tobias after he sides with the wrong people for what he believes to be a good cause simply shows that, no matter what, she loves him and her understanding that everyone makes mistakes and that nobody's perfect just shows that she is not your typical sixteen-years-old girl who just causes drama out of everything.
The way she describes her feelings for Tobias and the reason she chose him give a clear understanding of the fact that she does, in fact, love him for what he is.
"I fell in love with him. But I don't just stay with him by default as if there's no one else available to me. I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or disappoint each other. I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me."
Tris' and Caleb's relationship is another subplot in the book that I wanted to address because I, myself, have a sibling and the subject was a sensitive matter for me. Caleb's betrayal got to Tris in a way that no other could have because, above everything, theywere siblings. As to make it even worse, Caleb's reason for betraying his sister, especially with their parents gone, was that "Jeanine could be very persuasive" or something like that, I can't remember exactly. Uh, sorry, that is NOT a good enough reason, but I guess "faction before blood" is in fact some people's motto. Tris' attitude towards Caleb is only natural, with her ignoring him most of the time or quietly hating him (I guess deep down she didn't actually hate him *cough*ending*cough* and I guess that makes sense cause they're brothers, but why didn't that matter to Caleb?) and struggling with the right thing to do when something involves both of them.
So I guess the next, and perhaps, last important thing to mention is, obviously, the ending. The oh-so controversial ending that we all hated. Well, maybe hate is a strong word so I'll settle for disliked. Strongly disliked, that is, BUT! Yeah, there's a but.
First off, I want to say that I got extremely attached to the main characters because I related to them, especially to Tris. So you can imagine how I felt at the ending. Don't get me wrong, I saw it coming. The closer I got to finishing the book, the better I knew what would happen. I was sure of it. So I ask myself, why was I so shocked when I finally read those sentences, why did it hurt so much to read them again and again and blink repeatedly through tears as if they could change the words and, so, the outcome of the book? I actually cried, or more like bawled my eyes out, when I read those final lines of our beloved heroine Tris, for a good five minutes and then I cried even more while reading Tobias' reaction to the news and while reading the epilogue.
So, the ending of Allegiant ruined me. I mean it. BUT- and now I'm getting to the but -was this ending horrible because it left us empty OR simply because it was actually the most logical outcome? This is how I see things: Tris' death happened because it was NOT meant to be a happily-ever-after kind of book, because it was hinted in ALL three books that she was willing to die and, most frequently, for the WRONG reasons. BUT, in Allegiant, it felt to me like Tris had finally understood the true meaning of sacrifice, of what hear death actually meant. She gave her life for her brother, because she couldn't sacrifice his life, and for the people that depended on the course of her actions. She sacrificed herself and this time, it was not a rushed decision or a careless one, but one full of meaning and understanding. Of course, it bothered me A LOT that Caleb simply let her go in his place without trying too hard to stop her, almost like he was waiting for her to take his place and save his life yet again, and it made me sick to my stomach. In the end, I still hated him with a passion and he truly was weak and a coward. It also bothered me that Tris survived the death serum, which was supposedly lethal (we all knew she had serum resistance though and so we were hoping for a positive outcome), AND was then killed by a man with little-to-no experience in a wheelchair but I guess this shows us that even the strongest of us can't outrun death. Tris was successful in what she set out on doing and the fate of everyone came at a great cost.
Tobias' reaction to the awful news was genuinely heartbreaking and it felt so natural that I couldn't help but feel helpless along with him. With Tris gone, what does he have to live for? But he does, in fact, have a reason. He has his mother, he has his friends and his bonding with Tris' bestfriend, Christina, after her death suggests a strong connection between two lost people who have lost more than most of us could take. In the end, Caleb lets Tobias know that Tris "didn't want to leave him" and he understands the true meaning of that, that what she did was not reckless, out of the blue, meaningless like when she "offered" to die before. He understood that she understood (that gives me a headache) what sacrifice meant. Tobias says:
"She taught me all about real sacrifice. That it should be done from love... That it should be done from necessity, not without exhausting all other options. That it should be done for people who need your strength because they don't have enough of their own."
And so, while I do think that the book could have ended on a less brutal note, such as Tris being affected by the memory serum and having all her memories wiped, along with those of Tobias, that would've still been heartbreaking but at least hopeful, I personally believe that Tris NEEDED to die in order for the reader to understand the true message of the book.
Having put all that in a review and finally sharing my feelings about this book makes me think that I am finally ready to end this journey and maybe get over the sadness that Allegiant brought out in me, being ready to accept the fact that not everyone has their happy-ending and to accept the fact that this book was, in fact, an amazing experience, at least for me.
