Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS: As a relatively new fan to this series, I was only moderately excited about this release to begin with. I work in a bookstore, and as the youngest employee it is my responsibility (so to speak) to keep up with popular titles geared towards kids and young adults. I'd heard amazing things about this series and, upon picking up the first book, could not put it down. It was amazing and I loved it and I've since recommended it to tons of kids, young adults, and even some adults as a series that I firmly believed was better than the Hunger Games. Until this book. Being a bookseller, I was able to grab my copy a full day early and, having also had that day off, I read it in large bursts throughout the day. At first, I was really excited to see where the story would go. But as I got further in, the more it felt familiar ... I was just reading Insurgent again with a different setting. It is always a bold move to kill your main character. And sometimes this decision is necessary, and (if written well) can make a powerful impact on the story and generally improve the ending. Tris' death was nothing short of disappointing. She did not need to die. The story would have been stronger if she had lived. Her death was purely a "bold move," and nothing more. I think Veronica Roth thought she was doing right by her story and characters to kill off the protagonist, but it just makes her seem like an author who wanted to "go there" and "do the unthinkable." But honestly, it was predictable. As soon as it was announced, both prerelease and in-book, that Tobias would become a POV character instead of just a love interest, it was clear that Tris would most likely die. And it could have been done in a more elegant and meaningful way. But given the fact that Tris is literally always trying to sacrifice her life for things kind of diminishes the meaning of the act. If she had not attempted to sacrifice her life in Insurgent, and if she had not put herself directly in harm's way in Divergent, then her ultimate choice to give her life for the cause would have been stronger and more "explosive." The decision to kill her in this context was the coward's way out. In my opinion, both as a writer and a reader, I think it would have been stronger to kill Caleb, let Tris live, and have her live with the weight of having lost every member of her family, relying solely on the familial bond she shares with her boyfriend and her friends. It would have been a more personal and powerful way of teaching the message that we mend one another. TL;DR - this book was NOT a strong ending, it was NOT a good last book, and it was NOT what it could have been. It WAS a major disappointment, and I have felt sick to my stomach selling this book to excited kids all day long. If I could give this a 0/5 stars, I would. It felt like a slap in the face, and it makes me feel like the entire series was not worth the effort. I feel guilty for getting kids interested in this series to begin with because I know that once they read this book they will be let down in the same way that I and (apparently) most other readers (thus far) have been.