Allegiant

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.
from goodreads.com

Beth says 4 Stars...
If you're unaware of this series at this point then I'm actually rather impressed.  I know this came out a little while ago, but I was waiting until I could check it out from the library instead of buying it.  Although that might seem odd, I knew the reactions from fans were super mixed and I didn't want to purchase something I thought I'd have a substantial chance of disliking.  Luckily for me I quite enjoyed the book, although I do see what made people upset.  Roth was extremely bold in this novel because she made some significant alterations to the overarching plot of the series and moved in unexpected directions.  Going into the book there's no way I would have guessed the ending or even most of the middle and I really appreciated the surprise.  Yes, there are some plot holes and everything doesn't make perfect sense.  However, the whole series requires a certain suspension of disbelief and Allegiant didn't take it too much farther.  The book was compulsively readable and totally sucked me in.  I found the experience worth it solely for the pure escapism of the story.  The alternating perspectives in the chapters worked well and added another layer of complexity.

There were definitely issues with character development, or a lack thereof, during the course of the novel.  Neither Tris nor Four grew significantly or revealed a new side of their personality.  I don't really hold it against the book because the main focus was definitely the plot.  Of course, some new characters enter into the mix, but none of them were particularly remarkable.  The major novelty was the introduction of another society that encompassed the previous world.  I'm a sucker for world within a world stories, so this hit right in a sweet spot for me. 

Although I understand the anger and disappointment of many fans, I think that Roth made interesting choices that took the book away from predictability.  I'm attempting to do this without major spoilers, which is proving quite difficult.  Suffice it to say that the book will go somewhere different from the rest of the series and whether or not that's a good thing is up to you to decide.
book from library