{Review} Four: a Divergent Collection
*If you have not read Allegiant, I advise you don't read this review because it may contain minor spoilers*
Author: Veronica Roth
Release Date: July 8th 2014
Publishers: Harper Collins
Pages: 185
Genre: Dystopia
Links: Goodreads | Author's Website
Two years before Beatrice Prior made her choice, the sixteen-year-old son of Abnegation’s faction leader did the same. Tobias’s transfer to Dauntless is a chance to begin again. Here, he will not be called the name his parents gave him. Here, he will not let fear turn him into a cowering child.
Newly christened “Four,” he discovers during initiation that he will succeed in Dauntless. Initiation is only the beginning, though; Four must claim his place in the Dauntless hierarchy. His decisions will affect future initiates as well as uncover secrets that could threaten his own future—and the future of the entire faction system.
Two years later, Four is poised to take action, but the course is still unclear. The first new initiate who jumps into the net might change all that. With her, the way to righting their world might become clear. With her, it might become possible to be Tobias once again.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth comes a companion volume to the worldwide bestselling divergent series, told from the per-spective of the immensely popular character Tobias. The four pieces included here—The Transfer, The Initiate, The Son, and The Traitor—plus three additional exclusive scenes, give readers an electrifying glimpse into the history and heart of Tobias, and set the stage for the epic saga of the Divergent trilogy
Newly christened “Four,” he discovers during initiation that he will succeed in Dauntless. Initiation is only the beginning, though; Four must claim his place in the Dauntless hierarchy. His decisions will affect future initiates as well as uncover secrets that could threaten his own future—and the future of the entire faction system.
Two years later, Four is poised to take action, but the course is still unclear. The first new initiate who jumps into the net might change all that. With her, the way to righting their world might become clear. With her, it might become possible to be Tobias once again.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth comes a companion volume to the worldwide bestselling divergent series, told from the per-spective of the immensely popular character Tobias. The four pieces included here—The Transfer, The Initiate, The Son, and The Traitor—plus three additional exclusive scenes, give readers an electrifying glimpse into the history and heart of Tobias, and set the stage for the epic saga of the Divergent trilogy
Don't forget to enter my giveaway to have the chance to win a copy of this and a signed book plate from Veronica Roth! Giveaway ends at the end of this month, enter while you still can!!! AUS & NZ only.
Review
*I'd like to thank Harper Collins Aus for sending me this for review, it does not influence my opinion.*
Four ended up being such a great surprise! Allegiant somewhat left a bad taste in my mouth and I was a little hesitant about reading this. I've never been crazy when authors continue writing in their own world (when the series is clearly over) but this novella collection actually worked! I wouldn't say it's up to Divergent standards but I still enjoyed reading it.
In Allegiant, one of my main issues was the changing perspectives between Tris and Four. I generally don't like it when there is more than one POV so Allegiant was a struggle for me to get through. In fact I found the Four chapters so boring that I had to fight the urge to skip them. Four was such an improvement and I actually enjoyed seeing into Four's mind and I feel like I got more of a connection with him. More depth was added to his character and there was more of a backstory as to how he became 'Four'.
Not only did we get more of a background on Four but also on the Dauntless way of life. For some reason I feel like we didn't really get to see that from Tris's perspective so it was like I was being immersed into the Dauntless world all over again. I really recommend reading this because it answers all your questions about how dauntless changed and how it became to be this way.
This novel made me miss reading Divergent for the first time and I wish I could go back in time and read it again. (A re-read of the series may occur soon) I wish it went for a lot longer it was way to short for my liking. I was able to read it in about 2 sittings and it was hard to put down. (I was reading it during class instead of Shakespeare...ooops)
About the Author
12 comments
I have a HUGE crush on Four but this isn't available in the Philippines yet so sadly, I haven't been able to pick it up. :( Anyway, it's too bad that the book is short - 185 pages does not do Tobias justice - but at least it was an awesome read. Fantabulous review, Francoise, and I'm looking forward to reading this!
ReplyDeleteThat's my favourite thing about the book, it definitely made me remember why I loved Divergent so much. Like you, I wasn't a big fan of Allegiant either so this was really good.
ReplyDeleteI've not picked this up yet but I'm really intrigued! Considering we get to find out more about the Dauntless way of life!! I'm glad Four took on more depth in this book, because he did come across a little too un-Four like in Allegiant - a little whiny and not as strong as I first thought he was. But I still adore him, of course! ;D
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
Yay I'm so glad this was a success! Must read it now!!
ReplyDeleteHahaa I love how you read it in class, you badass Francoise!! I could never do that. I didn't read Allegiant, but I know the ins and outs. Maybe I'll read this because from your review it looks great! I would love to see how He changed and developed into Four. Amazing review as usual Francoise!
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely read this! It doesn't have any spoilers for Allegiant because it's before Divergent and a bit during so all you need to have read is Divergent. Thanks for the comment!
ReplyDeleteHow on earth did you get away with reading it in class?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this one too, considering that I didn't bond with Allegiant either (for obvious reasons), this was a nice surprise for fans of the series who needed a bit more to go out on a high. I loved seeing Four's story, it was much grittier and felt darker than reading from Tris's point of view. Awesome review <3
To be honest I don't know how I get away with reading in class either! I have to agree that it was so much darker and I liked it because it shed the Divergent world in a whole new light. Thanks so much for the lovely comment.
ReplyDeleteHaha you sneaky thing! then again, I would do the same instead of reading Shakespeare :P So glad you enjoyed this, I thought Allegiant wasn't great but I did admire Veronica for her boldness. I also hated the Four POV in the book though, so it would be good to read a book that focuses on just him and his backstory.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to get my hands on this if I can! You're so sneaky haha. ;)
ReplyDeleteAh I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't enjoy Shakespeare as much.
ReplyDeleteNot really, I just used the Shakespeare book to cover what I was really reading ;)
ReplyDelete