Overall rating: 3.7/5
Overall plot: 4/5
Overall character development: 4/5

Dystopian worlds dominate the YA book scene today. If you are an avid reader of dystopian fiction such as The Hunger Games or the Delirium trilogy and have not heard of the Divergent trilogy, you must have been living under a rock, and you should start on this series if you have not already done so. A very fast-paced series that has accrued millions of readers, you will find yourself sitting on the edge of your chair as you flip through the pages of these books.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth creates a world where people are divided into "factions", according to their affinity towards certain innate qualities which they believe ultimately ensures ongoing peace. The plot centres around Tris (or Beatrice), an unnoticeable girl at first glance, but whose decisions quickly draw attention to herself and she is tossed into a frenzy of chaos where making the wrong choices could jeopardise her life. The first book, Divergent, begins with Tris making the decision to leave her faction for another - something that would change her life forever. The story then develops with Tris' training and leads to an unexpected twist.

This trilogy has been well acclaimed by numerous critics. Be warned though, that as you progress to the second and third books, your expectations should not be set too high. With the morally challenging themes associated with this trilogy, Roth undoubtedly has the ability to reel an audience in with the first two books, Divergent and Insurgent. However, her third book, Allegiant, was met with a bombshell of negative comments due to the fact that Roth adopted a different approach in her writing. Roth wrote the first two books as Tris in a first-person perspective, and in Allegiant, she alternates the chapters between the points of view of Tris and her boyfriend, Tobias (or Four). This style of writing caused a lot of havoc in the YA book scene, but personally I felt that this was somewhat necessary for the ending to have a proper conclusion. And that way readers would also be able to understand both characters on a deeper level - knowing both their actions and their thoughts.

Even though the third book triggered a lot of backlashes, this is still a very recommended series which I believe will add a lot of colour into your reading life.