Allegiant - a mini review.

With Divergent hitting the cinemas this month, the books on which the movie was based have been getting equal publicity. Allegiant is the final book of Veronica Roth's young adult trilogy and completes Tris and friends' fight against evil, scheming dictators.

I read Divergent and Insurgent last year and although Allegiant was released in November 2013, I only just got around to reading it. I really enjoy young adult series, I find them entertaining, easy reads, and often thought provoking. Dystopian futures have become flavour of the month amongst young adult literature and the Divergent series follows in the same thread. 

I'm assuming that you will only read Allegiant if you have read the other books in the series, because I don't feel that the book is strong enough to be a stand alone story. I read the other books under a year ago and I struggled to remember who characters were. Although I understand that series are meant to be familiar with the overall story, I like books that can be enjoyed alone even if you haven't read the entire series.

Allegiant is also the only book in the trilogy to be narrated from Four/Tobias' and Tris' point of view, giving us two perspectives of the unfolding events. For me, the only problem was that Roth's voice for these two characters sounded so similar that at times, I forgot whose chapter I was meant to be reading. Four and Tris are extremely different characters, I shouldn't have had to question whose mind I was in. 

Another gripe I have with this book is the constant angst! I realise that life is pretty crappy for all the characters in the Divergent series but it felt like I was reading constant whinging. Tris would complain about Four's behaviour and vice versa. At times, it felt like Tris was just trying to be a martyr about everything and not trying to understand other characters point of view. I never got that impression of her before: I liked her character, but now, not so much. 

I wasn't overly fond of the plot either; I think Roth was aiming for twists and turns, keeping the reader guessing who the baddie is but I just felt like we were on a wild goose chase; this person/entity is the baddie, oh wait no... This person is worse... Hold on, no! THIS person is also pretty nasty! Trust no one but Tris, she always knows what's best! I want more substance than that. The plot also gets lost in the science/genetics issues: worries that are valid in our ever advancing technological world, but for me, it just undermines everything else about the story: the factions, Choosing day, people's roles in the dystopian Chicagan society. 

The ending - the massive ending, which I will not discuss much to prevent spoilers - I wasn't a fan. I didn't feel satisfied. I guess Roth was trying to highlight that we don't live in a perfect world, sacrifice, love, life, family but it doesn't sit with me. 

I really, really wanted to like this book. I wanted Divergent to be a series that I could return to time and time again, but Allegiant has let it down. It wasn't a satisfying conclusion to a series that you could really root for, a world that you could get lost in, with some really likeable characters. To me, at times it felt rushed, and when I see that there are other mini stories written from this series (purely to make money, I would assume), it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.