Divergent
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney
Sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior lives in a world divided by five factions based on virtues. The teen’s family is part of the Abnegation faction, and the virtue they hold most dear is selflessness. One’s faction determines how and where one lives, what one wears and how one behaves — or should behave.
On the eve of the Choosing Ceremony, all of the youngsters in her class take an aptitude test, which is used to determine which faction is best suited for the student. Regardless of the results of the exam, the students can choose any faction they like. However, Beatrice knows that if she chooses a different faction from the one she was born into, she will be separated from her familiy forever.
That’s a heavy dose of reality for a teen. Adding to Beatrice’s angst is that her test administrator, Tori, reveals that her results show that she has an equal aptitude for three factions, which makes her Divergent. Lori doesn’t explain what that means other than that it is dangerous and that Beatrice must never reveal that knowledge to anyone. –p.d. lee
