I was bothered throughout by the
fact that the faction names aren’t all noun forms. But I can live with that. More serious, about halfway the story changes
its focus from the girl’s progress in her new society to her tentative romantic
explorations. For me, this emphasis was TOO
MUCH.
Like the best science fiction, Divergent offers a view of contemporary
society, and until it turns into a teen-age romance, the novel comes close to
the effectiveness of The Hunger Games. No
doubt the repeated scenes of touching and feeling work for thousands
of genre readers (maybe hundreds of thousands), but I think it causes the novel to lose appeal for a crossover
audience. A little bit would
have been fine.
The second example of TOO MUCH in this story is the fighting. Once the story shifts from training to actual
conflict, the fight sequences seem repetitive and boring--blow by blow, like
directions for the movie actors. I
started skimming. Yeah, I skimmed the entire
last half, so I allow that my judgment may be unfair.
My point is emphasis and balance.
I doubt that any writer knows when enough is enough--we need astute editors and critics. Critiquers have said to me, “You can cut
this. We get it.” I’ve given the same critique when I think a
sequence goes on too long, when I’m bored by silliness or banter or exposition
or gratuitous anything.
I suspect Divergent is a good seller. I think it missed an
opportunity to be a better novel.
