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About the Book

Summary: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, 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 to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating 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 a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

Release Date: May 3rd, 2011

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“I love Divergent. I have always loved Divergent. It wasn’t the first manuscript I finished, but it’s the first one I was truly proud of.”

{Why A Trilogy Is Actually More Like Polygamy (Or Is It?)}

“…if someone had told me to make my book into a comedy, I would have looked at them like they had grown a third nostril. Because if you know anything about Divergent…it is many things, but a comedy IT IS NOT.”

{Reduce Static Cling! (The Benefits of Detachment)}

Did you write Divergent as a stand-alone novel with series potential or just as a stand-alone? And if you wrote it with series potential, how did you leave it open ended enough that sequels can follow but not so open ended that agents reject it for a an ending that doesn’t wrap up perfectly?

I wrote Divergent as a stand alone with series potential, which means that I worked very hard to find the right balance for the end: satisfying, such that the story could stop right there if it had to, but intriguing enough that people would want to read more. In my mind the world and greater story were always big enough for three books, so when I was asked how many I thought there would be, 3 was always the answer.

{Some Answers: On Sequels}

About the UK cover:

“Divergent is a book that is accurately represented by a bold fiery symbol and a skyline and a gathering storm. But it is also about a girl who is somewhat isolated, in character if not literally, who marks herself with the figurative representation of one of her worst fears (the birds). This design emphasizes something different about the story, which I loved seeing.

Other things I like: you can’t see the girl’s face, so you still get to imagine her, yet she looks sort of scrappy like Tris is. And the birds! Of course I love the birds. And the color is eye-catching.”

{New UK Cover! And General Thoughts on Covers}