Reggie_Love's Reviews > Allegiant

I hated reading the book. Ironically enough, the ending (the reason most people hated this novel) is one of the few things that saved it for me. I have a long list of grievances. Prepare yourselves.

Here is my fangirl rant before my productive one. And no, it's not about my fangirl-ness for this book, it's an attack on Roth and the fact that she steals things. YOU DO NOT STEAL FROM MOCKINGJAY! I mean, come on, find your own way to create drama. (view spoiler)[ I'm referring to the fact that Tobias contributes to the blowing up of Uriah, where as Gale helps build the bombs that blow up Prim. (hide spoiler)] Secondly, if you want to write about pure vs. not pure people, just give up now. It's already been done and no one can do it better than Julianna Baggott.

Okay, here is my adult review...

1. My initial issue came with the observation that we would suddenly be experiencing things from Tobias' point of view. As someone who devoured the series in a week, it took a few hundred pages and NUMEROUS confusing moments to finally get in the grove of multi-POVs. It was such a break in the story itself. (view spoiler)[ It also made me question why she would do that and I quickly realized that Tris wouldn't be able to finish the story herself. I think it would have been more powerful if Tobias had suddenly taken over after her death instead of sharing the role through the book. I do admit feeling heartbroken when there was no longer a name under the last few chapters. (hide spoiler)]

2. I have written in previous reviews about my frustration with Roth and her inability to write for minorities. Even though she has many people of colour, she describes them so oddly that there leaves no question to the reader that Roth herself is white. As for queer characters, it's nice to finally see them (and for them to actually be canon), but they seem thrown in, and they are never given time to develop or allowed to show true affection. When I started reading the whole fringe bit and GD and GP stuff it seemed very race-like, but without actually talking about race. And as stated, the irony is that she can't talk about race to save her life. It was so strange. If she had done her research she would have know that instead of just ignoring them, the "Bureau" would have absolutely done sterilization procedures and much more.

4. Another issue I have with Roth is her continual use of religion in her novels. It's quite evident in this one (and if you miss it, I'll be glad to point it out in messages). I found it annoying more so because she seems to claim that being a Christian isn't part of her writing, when it weaves it self so strongly into her characters. In addition to her religion, her politics are blatant. If she's not a conservative, then I'm not queer. I've never seen anyone be more anti-big government in a simple novel. Holy shtako.

5. While putting personal issues aside (politics/religion), I felt her story just didn't make much sense. I liked the first two books. This one seemed like she didn't know where she was going. It was as if she had a plan for the first two and now she was just trying to fill in pages and solve a problem the last book created. It didn't feel genuine, if that even makes sense. The other books made impressions on me. I felt like they had messages (not political/religious ones), but this one didn't seem to have that same feeling for me at the end. (view spoiler)[ I felt the strength in what Tris did to save the ones she loved, but I didn't feel the fulfillment at the end. I don't know. (hide spoiler)]