So I (finally) Watched Divergent...

...AND IT. WAS.

AWESOME. I meant awesome.

Let me just say that the casting this time was even better than (wait for it) Twilight, Beautiful Creatures, and yes, even Hunger Games (not that I'm an advocate for anorexia, and it's not that I expected a boner haha, ops visible-bone-kind-of-skinny girl. I just needed someone less...voluptuous) and I'm thinking even Fifty Shades. Though I will not get into my grievances with Fifty's casting now.

Maybe some other time. Soon... Oh wellzie.

Anyway, YES, I thought Tris/Shailene would be just another Young Adult (YA) Dystopian heroine with the ass-kicking, very Katniss Everdeen but with more romance (yes, I've been privy to all the Four-gush fests). But she wasn't. I felt that the fact that Tris being born into Abnegation made her a whole lot more relatable than other YA heroines of the same genre. Let me explain this.

The Katniss Category of YA heroines -- which includes characters like Katsa from Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Defy by Sara B. Larson, and Rose from the Vampire Academy series -- are trained to hunt and fight, to be on survival mode since they were little. And they're good at it. It's a thrill to read about them and for just a fraction of time, imagine ourselves possessing agile, knive-wielding hands, nimble feet and warrior bearings. On the other hand we have the Tris Category of YA heroines -- think Elisa from the Fire and Thorns series by Rae Carson, Meghan from The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa and Alice Bell from the White Rabbit Chronicles by Zena Showalter. They are born like us. They are down-to-earth, calculus-learning, normal humans who lead normal human lives till they are forced into a situation where they have to pick up their big-girl, army-prints panties. They react the way you or I will react, and they think along the same tracks as us. That's their main attraction point, and I think it grabs our attention subtly. At least, this is why I loved Tris so much. This, and her unflinching loyalty, her guts, smarts, wits, and just about every aspect of her.

~Four to Tris

Then there's Four/Theo James the man himself. I mean, wow, where do I start!

Found this at Epic Reads

He's so cool, so sweet, so badass, and he's not too perfect either. But that just enhanced his sexiness, so. I WANT A FOUR TOO. BOO.

The only thing that I thought could've been made more convincing was Tris' fears. Some were valid, but some were just...weak? I mean, what most people fear, I believe, isn't what can kill us. Or at least kill us quick. It's either something caused by a past trauma, or pain, or something that will make us lose some precious marbles. For me, lock me in a room with a ghost and seriously, I don't think I would make it out of the room quite the same --or alive-- anymore. (Fuck that is one scary-shit image)

Other than that, I loved the movie. Everything flowed smoothly and for someone who didn't read the book, it was pretty dang amazing and understandable. Unlike City of Bones, Percy Jackson 1 and 2, and and Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows Parts I and II where large chunks of story had to be deleted or ALTERED (this should be punishable by law) and non-readers were left scrambling to their reader friends to ask what in Merlin's Pants is happening.

Back when HP was still understandable.

So anyway, I would rate this a 5/5 amazeball stars as a book reviewer, but in terms of movies, it's a 9.5/10 for me. The casting was spot-on, the directing was amazing, the action sequences and fight techniques were very unique and exciting, the plot was an on-the-edge-of-your-seat, breathless kind of exhilerating and the romance was PERFECT. It's the kind of romance I've been waiting for in a movie for all 19 years of my awesome teenage life. Heh.

I would definitely recommend this to fans of YA Dystopia. Or actually if you like YA and your romance to go with lots of action and a good save-the-day kind of story, DIVERGENT THE MOVIE is just the right tea for you.

My Rating

Publication Date: February 28th 2012
Watched Date: April 12th, 2014
Publisher: Katherine Tengen Books
Series: Divergent #1
My Rating: 5/5!!

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Blurb from Goodreads:
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, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

P.S. LOTS of news about Insurgent the movie on Veronica's blog! (1) It will be out March 20, 2015!! (2) There'll be a new director cause Neil Burger was working furiously on Divergent and they had to start filming right away. SOOOOO EXCITES.

P.P.S. I loved the movie so much I wanted to pick up Divergent and the series right away. But, being anxious me, I went to spoiler myself...about Allegiant's end... AND NO. I will not subject myself to that. So nope, I don't think I'll be picking this series up, though I'll definitely watch it through. (I'm FURIOUSLY HOPING that the screenwriters write a better ending. Though that will be unfaithful and I'd be shooting my own arse with the whole punishable by law thing, but I think this warrants an exception.)

P.P.P.S. Thanks for reading all the way!! Y'all deserve a big CYP virtual kiss. Hahaha, and lotsa chocolates and fruity champagne. Virtual, of course. ;)