"Divergent was very popular and overall well-received, but there was a lot of negativity that came with it, just because any popular work is going to carry that kind of negativity. I was young, and anxious, and soaked that in like a sponge" from this interview
by HecticJones
7 Comments
That’s crazy.
I never read Divergent and didn’t know it got hate. All I know is it kind of like, was the end of the whole “YA-Dystopian I Was An Ordinary Person Until The Special Day And I Became The Chosen One”. But I thought that the genre was just kind of played out, not necessarily the author’s fault
I never understood hatred when it comes to reading. Don’t like the book? Don’t read it. Pick another one. Leave the author alone…
I remember the reader friends I had telling me it was bad because she ripped off hunger games. And thats why I never read it or watched the movies. I still don’t even know what its about lol. And thats what… almost 15 years ago?
Maybe I’m just getting contrary, but as someone who was the exact target audience for this series as it was coming out, I don’t remember much “trolling” around the Divergent series (as this article suggests) so much as legitimate criticisms of derivative and weak writing. Full kudos to Roth for her ambition, but she was very much developing as a writer at the time, and it showed.
I was in highschool when The Hunger Games movie was coming out. Our english class was required to read it and of course it was a hit. I picked up Divergent on a recommendation because it IS similar but I don’t remember people trashing it. I just chalk it up to poor timing with them being similar.
When I hear literature and hate are being combined I get stressed. It’s like middle-age church inquisition.