Divergent is the debut novel of American novelist Veronica Roth, published by HarperCollins Children's Books in 2011.

The novel has been compared to other dystopian young adult books of the 21st century such as The Hunger Games (2008) and The Maze Runner (2009) because of its similar themes and target audience.

Roth wrote Divergent while working on a creative writing degree at Northwestern University, and it was quickly purchased for publication alongside the subsequent books in the trilogy (published 2012 and 2013).

[1] Summit Entertainment purchased the media rights to the book in 2011 and subsequently produced a film adaptation, released March 21, 2014.

Roth indicated that she did not originally intend to use Chicago as the setting: I wrote the rough draft and I felt like it needed a more grounded sense of place, and I looked at the city I had described, which is all these trains constantly moving, and this lake marsh, and these rivers.

[6]In a post-apocalyptic Chicago, people have been divided into five factions: Abnegation, who were the selfless; Amity, who were the peaceful; Candor, who were the honest; Dauntless, who were the brave; and Erudite, who were the intelligent.

The rumors are fueled by the fact that Marcus's son, Tris, and Caleb have all left Abnegation, which is also alleged to be hoarding supplies.

Peter, Molly, Al, and Drew attack Tris, threaten sexual assault, and nearly throw her to her death, but Four intervenes.

Tris shares her feelings for Four and is later ranked first at the initiation ceremony.The serum transforms the Dauntless into hypnotized soldiers to attack Abnegation.

Many reviewers stated that the novel's writing style offers a distinctive, terse prose that creates a fast-paced reading experience.

"[3] Abby Nolan, from The American Prospect, noted that Divergent follows the structural and stylistic patterns of The Hunger Games and Blood Red Road.

[7] As in other children's and young adult fiction, the novel probes placement of authority and identity within the youths' relationship to parents and other social forces.

[8] In The New York Times, Susan Dominus stated that Divergent "explores a more common adolescent anxiety--the painful realization that coming into one's own sometimes means leaving family behind ideologically and physically.

"[3] The Voice of Youth Advocates agreed and wrote that Divergent shows the pressure of "having to choose between following in your parents' footsteps or doing something new.

[8] The government division of a population into fragmented communities is a frequent device in young adult and children's fiction.

YA classics such as Lois Lowry's The Giver, Monica Hughes’s The Dream Catcher, and Zilpha Snyder’s Green Sky Trilogy use that device to different ends.

[10] In her masters' thesis, Ashley Ann Haynes describes fractioning of societies in Divergent as a supporting comparison with Hunger Games.

Divergent adds a new layer of complexity with its creation of an illusion of democracy for participants in its fractioned society, with the factions controlled by outside forces.

In a journal article, Andrea Burgos-Mascarell compared the factionless to illegal immigrants, who do not have access to certain public services either.

"[13] In a review for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater's student newspaper Royal Purple News, Abrielle Backhaus notes how the "entire system seems insubstantial" and asks rhetorically, "How could it be possible for any individual, with his or her infinite emotions and experiences, to be condensed to one single quality to tolerate for the rest of their lives and to choose at the mere age of 16?

The Publishers Weekly review emphasized that stylistic choice, called it "edgy," and described the initiation rituals that Tris endures "as spellbinding as they are violent [requiring] sadistic tests of strength and courage.

She wrote in The New York Times, "Terrible things happen to the people Tris loves, yet the characters absorb these events with disquieting ease.

In a review of the book and the first movie, David Edelstein observed the book's treatment of intellectuals as following a tendency in Christian culture to question genetic modification and the majority: the intellectual Erudite faction are largely depicted as control-hungry villains pitted against the Abnegation faction, which is depicted as righteous and merciful.

In a review in The New York Times, Susan Dominus wrote that it was "rich in plot and imaginative details" but also that compared to other such books in the same genre as the Hunger Games trilogy, it did "not exactly distinguish itself.

"[21] In a review for Entertainment Weekly, Breia Brissey said that it was "flimsier and less nuanced" than The Hunger Games but was good and gave it a B+ rating.

"[12] Common Sense Media commented on the book's "deep messages about identity and controlling societies" and on the "unstoppable plot that's remarkably original."

[31] In the lead-up to the release of the film adaptation, Roth's novel topped USA Today's Best-Selling Books list in January 2014.