16:32 Jan 11 2015
Times Read: 872
I just finished Allegiant - and I loved the ending. If you haven't read, or don't want to know the ending, don't read further.
I am going to give a quick rundown.
Divergent, and especially Insurgent, annoyed the everloving fuck out of me. The main character is Beatrice - "Tris" is her name for majority of all books.
She is 16. She lives in what was once Chicago, the entire city is guarded by a wall, and no-one knows what is outside of it. Her world is divided into 'factions'. There are five factions, each for the main traits of humanity.
The factions are:
Erudite: Those who seek knowledge and prize it above all else.
Dauntless: Those who are brave.
Amnity: Peace-loving and easy going, desiring simple life without conflict.
Candour: Those who value truth above all else.
Abnegation: Those who value compassion, kindness and selflessness.
The main character, Tris, is a mix of Dauntless, Abnegation and Erudite. She hardly ever acts like an Erudite or an Abnegation, however.
The people in the factions are genetically modified to be just ONE Faction.
So, anyway, the thing that annoyed me is that Tris is essentially a normal teenager, rash and unthinking, eager to throw herself into danger without thinking of others beforehand. She has a boyfriend who is... exceedingly nice. He's Abnegation, sweet and kind and occasionally rash, but that's a throwback to his fucked up past.
She continually picks fights with him, wears him down and goes through periods of not speaking and 'needing space to think'. He doesn't trust her - rightfully so - because she continually lies to him and deceives him, while telling him that she loves him. He's had a bad past - all he needs is for someone to trust him, but also explain things, and give him THEIR trust - which she does not do.
She's a petulant teenager - and I hated her in the second book to the point where I considered not reading it at all.
Eventually the Faction system fails, and Tris goes through periods of wanting to disable the rebellion and helping it, equally confused because she is too rash to think things out. This leads to her nearly dying, several times, and she continually WANTS to die in the first two books, and quite a large portion of the third. My hatred deepens.
She doesn't give a fuck about the fact that she hurts her boyfriend more and more each time, she just goes along with her 'I'm gonna die to save the world' bullshit, time and time again. Understand, dear reader, that she doesn't want to save the world - just wants to die and look like a hero. She just wants to be dead.
Which is why, when she is shot in the head and dies, it is so satisfying.
She survives so much. She survives multiple gun/knife wounds, being beaten within an inch of her life, lethal injection sequences - MULTIPLE times - and EACH time she is in those situations because she wants to die. In the last book, when she dies, she once again decides to die, and then goes to her death. The main difference is that in her death she literally is the only person who could have literally pressed the button and save the world, as she was the only one resistant to the poison.
I am exceedingly glad she died - one of the utmost issues I have with books is characters repetitively surviving death, when they shouldn't. Not just once, but time and time again, and not due to any amazingness on their part, but sheer luck, or quick thinking of those around them. Hunger Hames is such a series where it would have been better had Katniss died. It would have been a fulfilling book - because I want... realism. I think Tris and Katniss are essentially the same - main difference being that Katniss fights for survival and overcomes odds - whereas Tris doesn't give a fuck about living.
I'm 21 fucking years old - I want books where people die, not fairytale endings. This is one of many reasons as to why I love GoT.
I am glad the main character died, and there's more than just the 'she was a bad character' and 'it was logically right' -
if her boyfriend died, she would have been like Katniss - broken and useless. She would have never found a new boyfriend, she would have been one of those 'forever alone' characters who is unable to get their shit together.
Her boyfriend is kind, gentle and compassionate and is going into politics - she would have just existed - or killed herself. He will go on, get married to a demure but strong lady, and have a child, move on with his life and be great. The main character was not a person who inspired hope, peace or any form of leadership.
In fact, when you read the supplementing book from the boyfriend's POV, I got the feeling HE is the main character - you're essentially just reading about her as if she was simply a scarring chapter of his life. Some people would argue that she is good for him - I don't see any evidence at all. Anyone could have done for him what she did - and been less mentally scarring. She deepened his insecurities and fears, not released him from them.
I had more to say on this, and I've deleted so much, but... yeah. I didn't mind the books - the system was interesting, and the communism was actually beautiful - but the author tried to tug at your heart when the main character died - and it just did not happen for me - or my housemate, for that matter. We both disliked the main character and were glad when she died.
I think this would have been a more moving series if the main character had been a bit older, less of a kid, understanding she was dating a very hurt and frail ADULT, and just generally being... nicer.
So... yeah. I am over teen books - hell, I was over them when I first read them - I don't care what sort of recommendation they come with, I will not be reading them. I'm sick of stupid teen female characters. They're all the same - Bella, Katniss and Tris all try do the 'sacrifice' thing, and it is literally exactly the same scenario over and over again.
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