The 2010s, a time in every book lover’s mind known as the dystopian novel takeover.

It all began with the Hunger Games. A modern classic with a diverse and ever-churning plot that kept readers on edge to the very end. 

It got movies and millions of dollars made, opening the market to a whole new obsession with heroines and corrupt governments.

Also on the market was the Divergent trilogy. Also with a movie series, corrupt government, and a quiet, underestimated heroine. 

The problem with Divergent is that it was just not good. Everything about it was basic. 

The author threw a wrench into the main romance for no reason, wrote a protagonist with faulty character design, and chose a hollow ending to the story that leaves its readers confused.

The main character was Beatrice Prior, more commonly known as Tris. In the country, she lived in, the people were divided depending on what their brains were suitable for. 

Tris comes from the poor, friendly sector of the country because that’s where her parents’ brains were suitable. Until the day comes for her to be divided into a new sector.

The rising action kicks off when she realizes she is not the cookie-cutter person the government wants. Her brain is not one-sided and easily understood. She’s divergent.

Shocker.

Then, the expected happens. Tris tries to act normal, but a rebellion soon starts, and then they are soon in a practical civil war.

There is nothing special about Tris. A character like Katniss has internal conflict, outward conflict with friends, and even more conflict with enemies. All Tris has is outward conflict. During the series, her only goal is to stop the government from trying to kill people like her. 

The character structure of Tris is senseless. She was made to make the teenage girls who read the novel feel like they could be her. She’s a pretty girl with blonde hair and blue eyes who is smart enough to live.

However, the flaw comes with her ability to fight grown men despite her figure being generally small.

It doesn’t take her long to learn how to fight even though this is unrealistic and, when she is described, she is not said to be built with any kind of muscle that is necessary to win fights.

It’s a senseless appearance compared to who she’s supposed to be.

And that’s just it. She’s supposed to be a renegade: a pure revolutionary.

Only, the ending to the series doesn’t solve the problem. The final book Allegiant ends with Tris sacrificing herself to get rid of one of the ways the government controls the divergent people. 

It’s an abrupt end that isn’t done well. 

Some novels have their main character die at the end, but this time it wasn’t done right. While Tris’s reason for sacrificing herself is understood, it wasn’t smart. When I read it, the ending felt empty and unfulfilling. 

As the main symbol of the revolution, dying as a martyr isn’t the best choice to make when this death won’t solve the problem and win the fight.

She left the boyfriend that she had just gotten back together with. After a forced conflict by the author. Her boyfriend Tobias was becoming too close of friends with another woman, and Tris was jealous. 

This conflict between them was not needed. It did not contribute to the plot and the author could have found a better, more sensible way to have Tris dislike the other woman. 

The author only wanted to fill the book with more content about Tobias and Tris after the last two books of their growing relationship even though it was unneeded. 

With their conflict, the unrealistic main character, and average plot, the trilogy sums up to being just so-so. The market in the 2010s was obsessed with the dystopian trend which paved the way for anything with a relatable heroine and a corrupt government to be loved.

It isn’t a standout–not very “divergent”.