Insurgent
Veronica Roth, 2012
Science fiction Young adultFantasyContemporary fiction
In a city divided into five virtues, a young woman hunted for being all five must decide what she will sacrifice to stop a war. The voice is raw and first-person, moving between grief, tenderness and sudden violence at a brisk YA pace.
Feels like tenderness and serenity. About identity and freedom.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy dystopian YA with a conflicted heroine and a romance woven through the action. It is the second book in a series, so starting here means missing the setup that drives much of the conflict.
Why read it
It gives you a fast, emotionally bare continuation of a divided-city story, with loyalty and identity tested under pressure.
A page from the book
What crying is for, if not for lubricating the eyes.
I read somewhere, once, that crying defies scientific explanation. Tears are only meant to lubricate the eyes. There is no real reason for tear glands to overproduce tears at the behest of emotion.I think we cry to release the animal parts of us without losing our humanity. Because inside me is a beast that snarls and growls, and strains toward freedom, toward Tobias, and above all, toward life. And as hard as I try, I cannot kill it.So I sob into my hands instead. Veronica Roth.Veronica Roth began Divergent as a college student at Northwestern; Insurgent, the second book, was published in 2012, a year after the first.
Books that feel like this
More by Veronica Roth
Divergent
Veronica Roth, 2011
A girl raised to put others first joins the faction that prizes bravery, and learns how much of herself she is willing to risk.
Allegiant
Veronica Roth, 2013
In a fractured city, Tris and Tobias face what loyalty costs when courage stops looking heroic and becomes the work of getting through a day.
Where to get it
Some of these links earn us a small commission, at no cost to you. It keeps BookFeed free.
Questions readers ask
- Is Insurgent for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy dystopian YA with a conflicted heroine and a romance woven through the action. It is the second book in a series, so starting here means missing the setup that drives much of the conflict.
- What is Insurgent like?
- The voice is raw and first-person, moving between grief, tenderness and sudden violence at a brisk YA pace. Feels like tenderness and serenity. About identity and freedom.
- What should I read after Insurgent?
- If you liked Insurgent, try Everything, Everything (Nicola Yoon), Reckless (Lauren Roberts) and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares).
A taste of the feed
The one day a year when everything you're missing becomes impossible to ignore.
My birthday is the one day of the year that we’re both most acutely aware of my illness. It’s the acknowledging of the passage of time that does it. Another whole year of being sick, no hope for a cure on the horizon. Another year of missing all the normal teenagery things—learner’s permit, first kiss, prom, first heartbreak, first fender bender. Another year of my mom doing nothing but working and taking care of me. Every other day these omissions are easy—easier, at least—to ignore.
Everything, Everything · Nicola Yoon
The voice below sounds like the boy you knew, until it doesn't.
“I imagine you pictured my face when you threw that knife.” His voice is quiet, considering, sounding far more like the boy I knew. Memories of him flood my mind, managing to make my heart race. “Isn’t that right, Paedyn?” And there it is. The edge is back in the Enforcer’s voice, erasing Kai and leaving a commander.
Reckless · Lauren Roberts
Look at how texture and fabric become extensions of physical grace.
The pants clung to Lena’s waist and followed the line of her hips. They held close to the shape of her thighs and fell exactly to the tops of her feet. When she took two steps forward, they appeared to hug each of her muscles as they shifted and moved. Carmen gazed in wonder at how different was their effect from Lena’s bland uniform of J. Crew khakis.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants · Ann Brashares
Read pages from books like this, one at a time
Keep reading in the feed