Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm an adult who read this book looking for another Hunger Games. I understand that this is unfair--Divergent is not meant to be just like HG, and it's also not meant for adults. I'm guessing I'm not the only one in this category, though, so I thought I'd write the review to help those in the same situation. Here's why you might read it--while it's by no means a great novel, it's riveting. If you have a day or two to spend reading and just want to be consumed, go for it. While you read, you'll get to reflect on human nature, virtues, and vices. Not much [reflection], but a little. Here's why you should pass--ultimately, it's unfulfilling. The arc of the book makes no sense--the actual action takes place too quickly, and at the end. This makes the whole book feel out of balance, and disrupts the enjoyable first 3/4 of the book. Equally important, the main character is very uninspiring. Like Twilight's Bella, she's hollow enough that YA readers can project themselves onto her (She's not pretty, but she's not NOT pretty). She's completely forgettable. Absolutely infuriating, though, is the contradiction--she's bright enough to start leading a revolution of sorts, but she can't figure out that a guy maybe like-likes her. She felt willfully ignorant, and I repeatedly rolled my eyes at her--I hate to say it, but--stupidity. In an age of brilliant Hermiones and analytical Katnises, a willfully ignorant Beatrix felt like a real set-back. If I had a daughter, I would not want her idolizing Beatrix. Finally, the writing isn't that good. HG is marketed as a young adult novel, but it's FULL of writing techniques, and when reading it, I often reread lines for their beauty of cleverness. With Divergent, that happened... maybe once? Very simplistic writing that was there only to spew out the plot. Here's why you should reconsider even if you're still considering--the book, like many of its YA counterparts--seems oddly fascinated with taking down intellectual thought and science. Ultimately the bright people are considered the evil ones, and the charitable people (who are often religious) are the good ones. The message seems to be that science is dangerous and that goodness stems from religion. EEK.