The Blurb: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue–Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is–she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are–and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

The Review: I always wait so long to read these popular books, and I don’t know why because they are always SO good. I loved this story. First of all, this is present tense very well. That’s hard to pull off. I could not put this book down. The action was great, and the story just didn’t seem to stop coming. I enjoyed it right up until the end, and there I think it fell apart a bit.

I think the end (by which I mean the last third of the book, once the whole competition is over) should not have been a part of this book. It happened far too fast and seemed to come out of nowhere. I think it would have been a better beginning of the next book. It’s just such a completely different tone that it felt jarring. It didn’t belong.

Despite that, this is an awesome five star book. I enjoyed every minute of reading it.