Review: Great character development for Four
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 21, 2014
This review appears on Happy Indulgence, check it out for more reviews at happyindulgencebooks.comJust when I thought Divergent was over, the Four: A Divergent Collection shares his story like we’ve never heard before.I wasn’t a fan of Four’s perspective in Allegiant, because that wasn’t the Four that we had come to know through Tris. He was vulnerable and full of self-doubt, and it was a surprise to see that side of him so far into the series. So when I picked up this book, I was prepared for what his ‘voice’ would sound like, and I was eager to find out who the real Four was.The four novellas cover key moments of his character development, from his Choosing Ceremony (The Transfer), induction into Dauntless (The Initiate), being offered Dauntless leadership (The Son) and my favourite – his perspective from his meetings with Tris as a Dauntless instructor (The Traitor).Four was always an unsolved mystery to me, even after the events of Allegiant. He was never really good at expressing himself and opening up to others. These novellas will address those unanswered questions, like how he came to know about the attack on Abnegation and why his character seemed so different in the last book. It was great seeing what was running through his head as he met Tris and where his protectiveness and attraction came from, which was excellent for the relationship development. It was also interesting seeing what he was up to behind the scenes in the control room and the Dauntless headquarters, and it turns out there’s a bit more to the story than we originally thought.The side characters also have a large presence, including familiar faces such as Zeke, Max, Tori, Janine and of course Marcus. Here we will meet his support network and discover how the tensions between him and Eric were formed. He also shares some of his thoughts about the new initiates in the first Divergent book, which was interesting, alternate perspective to the original.If you enjoyed Divergent, I would recommend reading Four: A Divergent Collection which would have been perfect prior to picking up Allegiant. It does what a novella strives to do – becoming an integral part of the series offering more in terms of the story. It features excellent character development for Four, which the original series wasn’t able to explore in great detail. It is also a reminder of how much I enjoyed Veronica Roth’s writing, even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of the last book.Thank you to HarperCollins Australia for sending me a review copy, in exchange for an honest review.