Hello everyone! Happy Friday! First things first, to start off this beautiful morning in the best possible way, I want to announce the winner of last week’s slow cooker giveaway. And the winner is…Timi! SlimKicker loved her awesome challenge idea: “A good challenge for me is to do 100 pushups in a week, but each day make it more than yesterday.” Timi, if you could please shoot me an email we can get the slow cooker over to you. Thanks to everyone who entered!
Anyway, now that that’s taken care of, let’s get to this week’s Fashion Friday post!
Jeans: Forver 21 ($9 baby woot!)
Shirt: I think also Forever 21 but purchased ages ago
Flats: Urban Outfitters
This is a pretty simple, summer outfit. I wasn’t wowed by it, to say the least (you know those mornings where you throw on a hundred different outfits only to pick something you actually don’t even like? Yeah. Me this morning). Thank goodness Fabio had a client meeting today and therefore didn’t have to be at work as early as usual. He was able to talk me down and tell me I looked great, which saved me from at least another 15 minutes of ripping apart my closet. Why do I do these things?
Anywho, I wanted to use today’s post to talk about a book I finished reading last weekend, Divergent.
Book Review: Divergent
Source: Wikipedia
Divergent is the first book in a series by Veronica Roth which follows the life of Beatrice (later called Tris) as she grows up and struggles to fit into a warped-future United States on the brink of war. In this warped-future time, people are divided into “factions” (like colonies I guess) based on their ideals. At sixteen, members of each faction take an aptitude test to tell them which values are most important to them, and, which corresponding faction they could belong in. Members can then choose to stay in the faction where they were born, or pick a new one depending on their aptitude test results and their personal interests.
Tris was born into the Abnegation faction which values being selfless. The other factions include Erudite: The Intelligent, Amity: The Peaceful, Candor: The Honest, and Dauntless: The Brave. When Tris takes her aptitude test, however, her results show that she is Divergent and could fit into any number of factions. Tris then makes the bravest choice of all by leaving her family in Abnegation, where she didn’t feel she belonged, and joining Dauntless. In Dauntless, Tris learns more about herself, her capabilities, and her strength. She also finds friendship and love, and finds out she will do anything for those she cares for, which shows that she really is selfless and would have fit in at Abnegation after all.
After Tris is initiated into Dauntless, she learns of a plot against Abnegation and uses her bravery and strength to save her family and her people. While Tris still identifies with the old Dauntless values, new rulers have partnered with the brilliant Erudite to corrupt the values and use the bravery and violence as a war strategy. Tris then has to fight through the warfare to save her people, making brave sacrifices along the way.
The book ends when the war seems to have calmed down, though I am sure the next book in the trilogy will pick it right back up again.
My Thoughts
This book is a lot like the Hunger Games series, in that it is a bit of a weird subject, but incredibly well-written and action-packed. I actually think I like Divergent a bit more than the Hunger Games, which tells you how much I enjoyed the book. I am actually already hoping that they will be making a movie after Divergent (anyone know?).
I thought the character development in the book was fantastic and you feel Tris’ emotions the same way you would feel your own, including the not-so-nice ones that most people wouldn’t admit to feeling. I think because the portrayal of Tris is so real, the reader gets drawn right into the plot of the book and can’t put it down.
I really enjoyed this story and as soon as I’m done reading my current book (Drop Dead Healthy, as part of Julie’s June Book Club) I definitely want to read Insurgent, the next book in the sequel.
So, if you guys have read this book, what did you think? What did you think of Tris’ decision to pick Dauntless over Abnegation? What about her brother’s choice to select Erudite? How do you think Tris’ friendship with Christina will change now that Will is dead? Do you think Peter and Marcus will sabotage everything?
Have a good weekend, everyone!
Previous Fashion Fridays
