Divergent, the 2011 book by Veronica Roth, was a book that had people saying that, if you loved The Hunger Games, then you would love Divergent.  Since I enjoyed The Hunger Games, I decided to read this book.

Divergent is about a dystopian society in which sixteen year olds take an aptitude test to decide which of the five factions they best fit into. While the aptitude test just tells them what would be the best fit for them, they are allowed to choose any of the five factions: Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful) or Erudite (the intelligent).

The story follows Beatrice, who changes her name to Tris, an Abnegation born child who chooses Dauntless for her faction.  During her aptitude test she finds out that she is Divergent, meaning she can belong to multiple factions.  However, by the test examiner tells her to keep her Divergence a secret because it is dangerous.  The remainder of the book revolves around Tris trying her best to fit into Dauntless, find friends, and understand what it means to be Divergent, with the help of her instructor, Four.

Overall, I thought the book was very well-written and very engaging to read, but the movie did not have the same effect on me.  The film cut out many elements from the book that I believe were crucial points to the story.

The main change that bothered me was how toned down the character Peter was in the movie.  In the book, Peter is hotheaded, insane and downright evil.  He stabs a fellow initiative in the eye and eventually tries to throw Tris off a cliff after threatening to rape her.  In the movie, all Peter does is call Tris harsh nicknames.  This was quite a surprise because I was expecting to see a psychopath when I watched the movie, not a bully.

The movie also did not build strong connections between Tris and her friends Al, Christina and Will, and the movie cut out several of Tris’s other Dauntless friends.  While none of them are completely crucial to the plot, a main aspect of the book is Tris and her friends bonding and helping each other out.

The main problem is with the sequel to this movie, Insurgent, which came out this year in March.  Viewers will be confused because they cut out some crucial plot points from the book, including what Divergence is, what the main goal of the factions is, and what exactly Tris’s enemies are trying to accomplish.

Although the movie did pretty well in covering the basic idea of the book, the book is still the better option.