Insurgent: The Divergent Trilogy By Veronica Roth

The science-fiction book Insurgent, the second book in the Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth, proves to be action packed and full of suspense. The second book in the series opens up mere minutes after the first book ends. Having discovered and put a stop to a conspiracy that would change her city forever, Beatrice “Tris” Prior finds herself and her friends on the run from an overrun government and their leader, Jeanine Matthews. The conspiracy turns out to only be the tip of the iceberg, and she ends up having to make a decision that will determine not only her fate, but the fate of the city. In the novel, symbolism and imagery are very clean and clear but also have deeper meanings behind them. One great example is the heartbeat. Tris mentions heartbeats many times throughout the book and I noticed that usually it meant one of three things- a foreshadowing of someone’s death, a hope that someone will dye, or …show more content…
The reader does not fully understand the setting and the setting was not very clearly stated. A reader is unsure when the book is, for starters. It is unknown whether it is 20 or 200 years in the future. The main places that are thoroughly described to the reader are dormitories, cafeterias, and bathrooms of various factions. I liked that a lot of the setting was a mystery, but I do not think it was fully developed. One positive effect of the mysterious setting was that it really added to the plot. It is not stated what is happening outside the city and why it is guarded so heavily. It makes one think- the factions really must be too busy warring against themselves to stop and think why they may be in the city in the first place. The reader knows that the city is a dystopian Chicago. Marcus says “We are not from here, Beatrice. We were all placed here for a specific purpose.” Although the setting was not as thorough as I would have liked it to be, it did really add to the