We love dystopian novels around here. LOVE, love, love them. But, let's face it, not every one can be good, and that applies to dystopian novels as much as any other book. So this week, we're giving you a least favorite.
Ok, I don't want to give too much away with this because, well, let's face it, it's the third (and sort of final) book in the Divergent series. There's a lot to give away.
But I hated it. And not for the reason a lot of other people hated it (which I won't reveal), but there was a particular thing everyone hated, which I actually thought improved the book tenfold.
(Ok, fair warning, this part will be a little spoilery).
But for the first, oh, I don't know, two thirds of the book... NOTHING HAPPENED. I mean, absolutely nothing. They sat and putzed around a complex and talked about what happened in the past and it was about 300 pages of exposition, with this fake rebellion in the middle of the book as if to say, "yes, I know I'm getting boring, so here's the plot of the last two books in 40 pages.)
So, Divergent and Insurgent good, Alligiant super boring and did not live up to its predecessors at ALL!
Ok, I don't want to give too much away with this because, well, let's face it, it's the third (and sort of final) book in the Divergent series. There's a lot to give away.
But I hated it. And not for the reason a lot of other people hated it (which I won't reveal), but there was a particular thing everyone hated, which I actually thought improved the book tenfold.
(Ok, fair warning, this part will be a little spoilery).
But for the first, oh, I don't know, two thirds of the book... NOTHING HAPPENED. I mean, absolutely nothing. They sat and putzed around a complex and talked about what happened in the past and it was about 300 pages of exposition, with this fake rebellion in the middle of the book as if to say, "yes, I know I'm getting boring, so here's the plot of the last two books in 40 pages.)
So, Divergent and Insurgent good, Alligiant super boring and did not live up to its predecessors at ALL!
Guess what I learned about myself? I can't find a single book of dystopian fiction that I genuinely dislike that I've read. Turns out, there's so much of this stuff out there, I just don't read the ones I don't think I'll like. So to avoid cheating you out of half a post, this is the dystopian book I liked the least (though I don't really dislike it)...
I wasn't introduced to The Giver by Lois Lowry until college (despite having a whole shelf full of books by that woman, I had never even heard of this one, somehow) so I don't have a childhood experience with it.
I don't feel emotionally invested in it like I do with Hunger Games or even Divergent, and I don't think I'll see the movie in theaters when it comes out, like I did with the aforementioned.
And I don't think it has to do with the protagonist not being female (though, you've noticed that's the recent trend, right?)... I think it has more to do with his age than with his gender. He's younger than your average dystopian hero.
Now remember... I don't actively dislike this book... it's just the one in the genre that I like the least.
Aw, I love The Giver, That was my first foray into dystopian fiction back in middle school.
ReplyDeleteI've only read a small number of dystopian trilogies (Hunger Games and Maze Runner) but from reading this post and personal experience, it seems like the third book always turns out to be the most disappointing. For me, the lacking of the third book is even more unfortunate because the build up from the first two books makes it very frustrating when the story ends and you're left feeling underwhelmed.
ReplyDeleteI find the same trend. The third book in both the Hunger Game and the Divergent series were disappointing. Book two in The Maze runner was great, but I haven't read book three, so I guess we'll see how that holds up.
DeleteI read Uglies by Scott Westerfeld and book three was disappointing but, surprisingly, book four (which was kind of a tack on book and an afterthought) ended up being AMAZING and one of my favorite of the series, which is interesting, because usually those end up being the worst.
There are very few trilogies I can recall that I like the last book best, and even less that were dystopian.