Thumbs up for Allegiant by Veronica Roth. Young adult science fiction.
Hmm. This has gotten lots of bad reviews. I can see why. The first two-thirds or so are a lot of…talking. Way too much talking, for a series as action-packed and emotional as this one has been. While Allegiant read quickly, there was too much explaining of “he was working for her but she said she was doing this when she was really doing this but halfway through this other guy found out and….” You get the idea. I did find it necessary to re-read the last few chapters of Insurgent in order for the beginning of Allegiant to make sense. I suspect if I’d re-read all of the first two books, I would have gotten more out of Allegiant. But probably not a lot more. This book needed a lot more time being thought out, tightened, and polished. That said, I liked the ending: it was daring but right for the characters. I don’t feel cheated, because I think it was satisfying in the end; I just wish the book as a whole had been stronger.
We move closer together like sections of a tightened shoelace. Tori walks a few feet in front of us, and from the back, in the dark, she reminds me of Evelyn, her limbs lean and wiry, her shoulders back, so sure of herself it’s almost frightening. By the light of the flashlights I can just make out the tattoo on the back of her neck, the first thing I spoke to her about when she administered my aptitude test. She told me it was a symbol of a fear she had overcome, a fear of the dark. I wonder if that fear still creeps up on her now, though she worked so hard to face it – I wonder if fears ever really go away, or if they just lose their power over us.
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