Loyal to the End: “Allegiant” Review

Ali Reitzel ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer 

What if your whole world was a lie?

What if a single revelation—a single choice—changed everything?

What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

Allegiant is the long-awaited third and final installment of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. The book was released by HarperCollins on October 22, 2013. While the entire Divergent series is action-packed, riveting, and powerful, Allegiant is even more so. It picks up right where the second book (Insurgent) left readers with a cliffhanger, when the citizens of Chicago discover that there is a world outside of their fence and that their ancestors chose to forget their lives willingly and live new lives within the factions. Faced with the choice between trying to restore their former factioned lives, leaving Chicago, and living factionless, Tris Prior and Tobias Eaton struggle to try and find their place between the truth and the lies.

The Divergent series presents a new twist on the dystopian genre unlike anything the young adult literature scene had encountered before. While it kept the same totalitarian figure as a source of authority, the true villains were more of anti-villains and almost martyrs (and, as we saw in the first two novels, they don’t live long and aren’t the focus). What is the focus is the wonderfully dynamic protagonist—Tris Prior, an Abnegation turned Dauntless and a true Divergent. This girl is the embodiment of female empowerment— strong, knows her limits, and isn’t afraid to let herself break down when things get rough.

Allegiant tests Tris like she has never been tested before. Between juggling her relationship with Tobias, the betrayal of her brother, and the new knowledge about their city and the outside world, the events in this book push her to the breaking point and maybe even straight past it. The reader might not always agree with her actions, but Tris always does what she feels in her gut to be true and important: one of the most admirable traits a character can have and a great lesson on staying true to one’s own morals.

Unlike the two books before it, Allegiant is narrated by a second character—Tobias Eaton. For readers who love Tobias (hint: that’s everyone), this chance to see inside his head and really understand him is a thrilling and wonderful experience and really adds depth to the third novel.

Roth’s writing is raw, genuine, and punching. The reader cannot help but be pulled into the story and Tris’s life, hanging on every word as it’s read. Throughout the book’s many twists and turns, the reader can sometimes only wait with baited breath to find what will happen next. The emotional, mental, and physical journeys the characters undergo shape a story and create an ending that will stay with readers for years to come.

Overall Grade: A