Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I went into this story very engaged and interested, and slowly grew disengaged and irritated as I progressed through the nearly 500 pages. Below, I outline what I thought was good, bad and ugly (i.e. completely unforgivably bad). THE GOOD: Characters: some of the characters are well-conceived and interesting, such as Tris, Will and Christina. The story kept me interested: despite the fact that I got a bit bored with the training scenes, I did want to see where the story was going, so I felt compelled to keep reading. THE BAD: The writing: although many have proclaimed this to be well-written, I found the writing style immature. The descriptions were extremely lacking. I had a very difficult time imagining certain places (i.e. the Pit which is a main location for many scenes and yet I still have no idea what it is). Characters: The characters appear in both the good and the bad categories. My main problem with the characters is their inconsistencies and that a few of them are so one-dimensional. Four was very inconsistently written, and I am still very confused on his main motivations, his thoughts on the world he lives in, etc. Peter and Al were too one-dimensional. The world building: I personally did not believe the world for a second. I find it highly unlikely that people would split into five groups that cultivate one specific virtue. It oversimplifies humans and the human experience. It is completely unbelievable, and it reminded me of an odd mixture of the Houses in Harry Potter and the Districts in Hunger Games, that I felt it was unoriginal, badly conceived idea. A faction without rules?: SPOILERS: I completely did not believe that Dauntless would be governed with absolutely no rules or consequences. It was absolutely ridiculous. I found is unbelievable that initiates had to beat each other to unconsciousness, repeatedly, regardless of gender and size. Then after Peter commits two felonies, there is absolutely no trial, consequence, justice. I found that completely bizarre and unbelievable. Story inconsistencies: Tris is Divergent and this is a bad thing that she must hide, but I never felt afraid that she was going to be found out. This seemed more like a plot device than an actual problem. Also, during her final test, she completely blows her cover, showing that she is Divergent and nobody notices. I was completely confused. THE UGLY: The intense, non-so-subtle anti-science and anti-intellectual message: This was the absolute worst aspect of the book. SPOILERS: The author creates a very one-dimensional version of Erudite and Abnegation that carries a dangerous message: that knowledge, science, technology and progress are evil (since Erudite is painted as evil and these are the concepts that Erudite stands for), and that selfless, charitable (often-religious) Abnegation is merely the victim of the evil intellectual elite. I personally think that this is a very dangerous message for a young adult book, given the political atmosphere we live in. Historically, both religious and non-religious people have done evil things, and it is scientists and engineers who are responsible for all of the great (and awful) things that come with progress and technology. If Veronica Roth continues down this ideological path, I'm done.