My Review Of Veronica Roth's Final Book In The Divergent Series, Allegiant

I broke my cardinal rule of thou shall not damage a book. My bookshelf sags from the weight of the tomes I own that remain in the same pristine condition they arrived from the bookstore in. Books often were my way to escape my normal life and step into a new world, the least I could do is treat them with great care. Not a scratch, tear or dog-eared corner can be found in any of the books in my possession. However, there is one book in my collection that lost the respect that I give to my books and in frustration, I broke its spine after I hurled it at a wall.

On its release day, I raced home from school to find the package containing Veronica Roth’s final book in the Divergent series, Allegiant. Anxious to see what fate awaited my favorite characters, I immediately dove into the world of Beatrice ‘Tris’ Prior, the heroine trying to stay alive in a dystopian Chicago. Tris was a 16-year-old girl who had the aptitude for upholding, selflessness, honesty and bravery. Her aptitude for these three qualities classified her as a Divergent, an individual capable of independent thought that goes beyond the restrictive nature of the society she lives in. Throughout the series, she must fight for her life as Divergents are seen as a threat to society. After several hours, I reached chapter 50 of the book and could not believe what I was reading. My heart palpitations increased with each page until I came upon the words that turned my literary world upside down. Tris was dead. The character that I had fallen in love with, who I have been on a journey with since 2011, had died. This is when I broke my cardinal rule. I flung Allegiant at the wall which resulted in the breaking of its spine. I then proceeded in a similar fashion and ran to the room my mother was in, threw myself against the wall, curled in upon myself and wailed in disappointment as I mourned Tris’ death. My reaction was so visceral that mother’s immediate thought was that I was having a seizure.

Throughout reading the book, I was frustrated. The first two books of the trilogy had a continuous antagonist and storyline. In Allegiant, where Veronica should have been tying up loose ends, she instead introduced a new plot, antagonist and, multiple new underdeveloped characters that served little purpose. All the original characters who she tastefully created became one-dimensional means to an end for the new plot. Once Tris dies, all the problems that accumulated in all three books miraculously were solved without much explanation because of many deus ex machina. What upset me most about her death, is why and how she dies. Roth takes Tris and has her sacrifice herself, which is not usual for her character, but in doing so, she steals a much-needed redemption arc away from the character who originally volunteered. When Tris goes to sacrifice herself, she receives the death serum. Miraculously, being Divergent gives her the ability to survive and we, the readers, rejoice as we see Tris become the culminating invincible character the three books built her up to be. However, our joy is short-lived as the antagonist suddenly fires a gun and fatally wounds Tris. While she is dying, Tris sees a vision of her dead mother and runs to her asking to be “finished” and the author implies that Tris wants to die. This completely contradicts the second book of the series where the author firmly establishes Tris’ will to live, which she carries throughout the third book up until the reader reaches chapter 50.

Prior to Allegiant, I had read other books where main characters had martyred themselves and had no issues with. When handled correctly, they can be touching scenes that teach the reader a lesson, but the death should matter. This was the first time where I had been truly let down by a book and its author. Roth gave us an ending to the series that did not make sense for that body of work. The martyrdom of Beatrice Prior served no purpose to the story and in turn was Veronica Roth’s lazy attempt to spice up the already disappointing final book of the series.