Title: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s
Re-release Date: December 31st 2015
Rating: 5 stars
“The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered – fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.
But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature – and of herself – while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice and love.”
(I received a digital copy of this book in return for an honest review)
Read my review of Divergent and Insurgent.
So Allegiant has been given a lot of stick on Goodreads and, whilst I can see some of their points, I still continue to love the final book. In fact, I loved it even more than the first two parts of the series which should be testament to how I feel right now. I think I’m going to organize this review so that all the (awesome) positives come last and you walk away thinking ‘damn I really have to check out the whole series’.
Unfortunately, there were some aspects to Allegiant that I didn’t like. There was a moment in the first part of the book where I got really excited and was tricked into thinking that this was going to be one of those series finales where every character that was not Tris would be involved and given a large(r) part to the story. There was this fabulous, and I mean fabulous, moment between Zeke and Tobias where their relationship just felt so real and so funny that I was head over heels and wishing with my whole heart that their relationship would be featuring throughout the book. I was wrong. In fact, when the two characters meet again, Zeke doesn’t even feel like a real person, just a piece of cardboard. This may be an exaggeration but OMG I was so disappointed.
“Is this Prior?”
“In the flesh.”
“Why’s he bleeding?”
“Because he’s an idiot.”(…)
“I didn’t know that idiocy caused people to just start spontaneously bleeding from the nose.”
And also:
“I’ll miss you.”
“You too, sweetie”
All through Divergent, Tobias and Tris have annoyed me. I have no idea what there is between them that makes them love each other so much. It is still bugging me a week after finishing the series. And again, throughout Allegiant, as it was throughout the other books, there was this whole umming and ahhing where the characters were constantly wondering whether they should break up. YOU ARE GETTING BORING. I have stopped caring about their relationship. In fact, if you put me in either Tobias’s or Tris’s shoes, I would definitely be harboring some sort of deep hatred or at the very least some sort of anger towards the other.
In fact, Tobias himself was just annoying. In the other books he was like this piece of iron that would not be bent. But now? He is so flat and flimsy you could bend him back on himself and he probably wouldn’t even feel it. I get that he was feeling like a ‘rejected’ but ugh, he was such a strong character he can’t fall this far can he? His nickname is FOUR for a reason. Or shall we nickname him ‘pansycake’.
I suppose a fire that burns that bright is not meant to last.
A final annoyance with Allegiant was those two POV’s. They are fully necessary but where was the difference between the two voices? It just wasn’t there. Tobias sounded exactly the same as Tris and it made the whole thing very hard to swallow and keep up with. Maybe the fact that they are effectively the same person what makes them love each other so much? Who knows. But its annoying.
HOWEVER. I loved the ending. Like proper loved. I know you’re not supposed to love endings like this but there is something truly gratifying about having your heart ripped out, you know? And it was just satisfying to see everthing come together the way it did. And all of those annoying ends were tied up in a nice neat bundle. It’s like cleaning your room: a lot of effort to get there but so warming and almost comforting to see everything in its proper place. YES.
I wonder if fears ever really go away, or if they just lose their power over us.
That also brings me onto how much I loved the explanation for everything. Looking back, it was so obvious but, as I’ve said before, I’m a bit of an ignorant reader. But again, Roth has used everything in her power to make this book satisfying. It’s just like the ‘big-cup-of-tea-to-warm-you-up-on-a-chilly-day‘ sort of satisfaction. And there are some obvious faults as this is all fictional but its still clever and imaginative – it’s been fully thought through. It makes reading the two previous books so worthwhile.
Another thing that made me smile more than the Mad-hatter was how this book was, in terms of style, a mix of the first 2 books. In Divergent, you had a lot of slow-paced writing where the plot was only just building up. Then, in Insurgent, there was a complete change of speeds and you ended up with completely fast-paced writing full of action and excitement. Allegiant managed to take the positive aspects of the slow-paced and fast-paced styles and turned it into this perfect tempo that didn’t leave you gasping for breath after every chapter but also didn’t leave you crumbling under the weight of all of that building tension. Top marks for the perfect style, Roth.
I’ll say it one last time: Be brave.
This whole series is something that anyone and everyone has to check out. You have nothing to loose (except for a lot of your water mass through excessive crying at the ending). Just INVEST YOURSELF IN THIS MAGNIFICENT WORK OF FICTION, I IMPLORE YOU.
The Argle Bargle 