Divergent/Insurgent

In Beatrice Prior's future version of Chicago, the architecture and highway systems of the past are largely destroyed, and the population is divided into five factions.  The Amity value peace, the Dauntless value courage, the Candor value honesty, the Erudite value intelligence, and the Abnegation, Beatrice's faction, value selflessness.

Beatrice has grown up believing that she should put everyone above herself, that to think of her own desires or wants is selfish and immoral.  The abnegation don't even have mirrors in their homes; vanity is selfish.  As Beatrice approaches her sixteenth birthday and the ceremony where she will choose her faction, she is uncertain.

The idea of spending her life in Abnegation doesn't appeal to Beatrice; she feels trapped and alone, but to choose another faction is to turn away from her entire family.  Her new faction would become her family.

Beatrice chooses freedom over family and becomes a Dauntless initiate.  This life is wilder and freer than anything she's ever known, and she will experience friendship, cruelty, and love like she never would in Abnegation.

As exhilarating as this new life is, Beatrice notices strange and frightening things happening in her society, things that most everyone else is unaware of.  The danger increases, and Beatrice may lose more than she ever dreamed possible.

Read Veronica Roth's thrilling adventure to find out what happens!

 SPOILER ALERT! STOP READING NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T READ DIVERGENT YET!

In the sequel to Divergent, Tris is still reeling from the death of her parents and most of her former faction.  She also struggles with her own grief and horror over killing Will to save herself that horrible night when the most of the dauntless became mindless robots of the Erudite.

Now that everyone knows Tris and Tobias are Divergent, they face fear and stigma from those around them.  With the Dauntless home base filled with memories of horror and surveillance cameras, the few Dauntless who are have not joined the Erudite are left to search for shelter and belonging.

Tris loves Tobias more than ever, but she she finds herself drawn to his abusive father and his teasing hints about a secret.  Marcus Eaton swears that this secret is so powerful that the Erudite would do anything keep it from getting out.  Tris believes him despite herself, but she feels disloyal to Tobias.

The city is becoming a battleground of faction against faction, and the thousands of disenfranchised factionless may be the deciding factor.