Movie Mondays: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Welcome to Movie Mondays! Here at Found in the Fiction posts on Mondays will be devoted to reviewing books and the movies that followed them! I'll be looking at the differences between the two, and ultimately deciding which one was better. So, if you've read a book and are wondering if the movie is worth it, check back on Mondays! Also, if you've got any suggestions of books-turned-movie, feel free to comment below! I'd love to check them out and possibly review them here!

So, without further blabbing on my part, the first installment of Movie Mondays:

In dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five faction, 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.

Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Pages: 427

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

But this book here: Divergent  

I first heard of this book in the movie theater actually, as I waited for Catching Fire to start. They had an advertisement for the upcoming movie, and I knew I had to read the book first. I'm a firm believer that a book should be read before you watch the movie that is based on it. Maybe I'm just a purist, but I think there is something more authentic about the experience that way.

When I dove into Divergent, I didn't have a lot of expectations. I didn't know a lot about it, and I didn't know many other people who had read it either. I was pleasantly surprised by the world that Veronica Roth created. It had more depth than I expected, yet was easy to follow.

While the dystopian-society-book-drama is becoming overdone, I felt like the first installment of this series was worth reading. Tris is a relatable character that I feel girls anywhere from 9 to 25 could relate to. She comes from Abnegation, seems timid, shy, and unsure of herself. Yet, as the novel progresses the faction Dauntless helps her to gain courage and strength that she didn't know she had.

This book is a fast read that will keep you entertained. I finished the book in under a day, I couldn't put it down. I really liked that Roth focused on Tris' initiation into Dauntless so thoroughly. She made me felt like I was right there, not missing a single step. I really liked the book, but at the end of the day I can only give it 4/5 arrows. Don't get me wrong, its a great read, I just don't think that it was life changing in anyway. It is simply a well written fun piece of Young Adult Fiction.

. . . . . . . . But what about the movie you say? . . . . . . . .

Lets take a look!!

I really enjoyed the movie version of Divergent. My biggest complaint about it is that I'm not a huge of Shailene Woodley, the actress who played Tris. This is probably because of the few times I watched The Secret Life of the American Teenager and I was not impressed. I feel like she was missing some of the emotion, the excitement, fear, anger, that Tris needed to have. Tris was much more volatile in the book then the screen version conveyed. I was however very pleased the casting of Four. For me his character was exactly spot one!! 

I know the movie did take some liberties when it came to plot choices and character to include from the book, but overall I felt like it had a similar feel to the book. My husband watched it with me, and he had not read the book. With book-made-movies I always wonder if they are understandable if you haven't read them before. My husband liked the movie and didn't have very many questions, so as far as that goes it gets my stamp of approval!

The only downfall of the movie was the deletion of Uriah. He was by far one of my favorite characters from the book, and to be completely missing was sad. I'm really hoping that he makes a grandiose appearance in the next movie!!

Book v. Movie :  For me the book definitely wins here, but the movie was close behind. I think the book mainly wins out because I simply love to read more than I love to watch movies! What can I say, I'm a nerd :)