Insurgent by Veronica Roth

No matter how good a book might be, if it's the middle book of a trilogy then it is very likely that the whole thing will just feel like a setup for the exciting final. Now Insurgent manages to avoid this to some degree (or at least better than some series do). It has its own plot and while admittedly a lot of it is setting up for what seems like an inevitable war in the third book, enough happens that it isn't boring. Unfortunately it's not particularly memorable either. A lot happens but it isn't stuff which has a great impact on the overall story. The first third of the book is running away, the second third is trying to get something and the final third is the realisation they can't get something only for it to turn out to not matter anyway.

I had some problems with book Tris which I mentioned in my first review and sadly they only seem to grow more numerous with this book. Firstly, Tris is suffering from gun phobia after killing her best friend in the first book. This is perfectly understandable but it does mean that Tris becomes a teensy bit more useless in terms of things she can do. She also turns suicidal for a while which could work if it was handled better. Sadly all it does is make Tris seem whiny. And even more useless.

Okay, so one thing I did like about the first book was that it didn't have the dreaded love-triangle found in the majority of YA fiction. Is this still the case? Well...it's hard to tell. Technically there isn't a love triangle but there are a few hints towards Tris and Uriah (yes, I know he has a girlfriend but still) and they usually follow scenes where she's had some kind of dispute with Four.

Ah yes, Four...what happened to you? I'm not sure what it was but he seemed a lot flatter and less likable in this book. Aside from being far too harsh on Tris, he just seemed douchier in general. For me to root for him as a love interest, he's going to have to have some serious development occur in the third book.

Overall, Insurgent is basically the same as Divergent. It's an interesting enough story, not really amazing but probably worth it if you like this sort of thing. My only main problem was with the ending which was treated as some big twist despite the entire book building up to it and it basically already being revealed. I shall read the final book but only to see how it ends. So far I can't say I'm enamoured with the series.

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