Laura's 100 Books in 2012 - #1

For my first read I chose a book from the dystopia/utopia genre, Divergent by Veronica Roth. I love this genre and its close ties to my love of historical fiction.  These days you can get away with just about anything if you have a good lawyer. Not like “back in the day”, when men and women had certain rules they had to live by. Great books are about breaking those rules. Many current authors are doing the same type of thing by creating dystopian/utopian worlds with strict rules (like placing children in reality-TV-to-the-death matches) and that makes for an awesome story.

In dystopian Chicago, Beatrice Prior must choose between the five factions that society has broken into: Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Families fall into the same faction.  To choose against your family means you leave them forever. Beatrice makes her choice and surprises everyone. While Divergent is not my number one utopian/dystopian book (that spot is filled by The Hunger Games), I definitely think you should read it if you like the genre.

Other book recommendations from this genre: The Hunger Games, Matched, and The Maze Runner. All three are the first entries in larger series.