Insurgent is the second book of the Veronica Roth series. It is in a series of three science fiction young adult novels. It follows the second novel about Tris Prior, and a dystopian post-apocalyptic version of Chicago. It follows Tris’ journey through grief, forgiveness, identity, loyalty, politics, and love.
This novel came out on May 1, 2012. A film adaption came out on March 20, 2015.
The story takes place directly after the first novel where Tris Prior, Tobias (Four) Eaton, Caleb Prior, Peter Hayes, and Marcus seek refuge in Amity, a faction that is dedicated to peacefulness. Most of them were from the Dauntless sector, and didn’t know peacefulness. All they knew was war. They were fleeing because Tris was found out to be a Divergent, which in this series of books was known to be dangerous. They were only dangerous when Erudite, the smart sector, ruled them to be dangerous. While here Tris overheard Marcus and the Amity leader saying the Abnegation died over some secret information.
After this, Eurdite storms Amity to arrest all the Divergents. While this is happening Tris manages to flee with Four, Caleb, and Susan Black on a train to Factionless. While there, they meet Four’s mother, Evelyn Johnson-Eaton, who tries to get her son to sway some of the Dauntless to join forces and go against Erudite.
While Caleb and Susan flew to Abnegation, Tris and Four go to the Candor sector. They head here because that is where the rest of the Dauntless are. Four and Tris undergo truth serums. While under Tobias reveals his reasons for transferring to Dauntless, and Tris reveals that she killed her friend Will in self defense, which strains her friendship with Christina. However, the night, the Dauntless traitor led by Eric, arrive and shoot simulation serums into their fellow Dauntless members, knocking all of them out except for the Divergents: Tris, Uriah Pedred, and several others.
Eric then round up the Divergents and begins to excute them. While excuting them, Tris wounds him and alllows the others to capture Eric and even the remaining Dauntless. While the Candor leader and Erudite leader meet for discussion, the other remaining Dauntless vote to execute Eric.
Tobias executes him with no hesitation. To avoid becoming dependent on Candor, they return to their headquaters and disable all the cameras on the inside. However, Christina alerts Tris that a security camera triggered a suicide stimulation to three members of Dauntless (Marlene, Hector, and Kee) unless they hand over a Divergent or in this case Tris. They are unable to save Marlene from the suicide.
The story continues when Tris hands herself over to Erudite. She is then placed in a cell by Peter, and to her shock, her brother Caleb, both of which are working with Jeanine. Tobias follows her to save her, and is captured. However, not before he convinces Dauntless to join forces with Factionless.
They need a Divergent to open the secret information that Abnegation was killed for. To get the box open, Erudite had to find the perfect Divergent to get the box open. Tris undergos multiple simulations to get the box open. After unsuccesful simulations, Jeanine orders for Tris’ execution. Peter instead gives her a paralytic instead of the lethal one and frees Tobias, and the three escape to Abnegation.
Tris meets with Marcus, who tells her that Jeanine has withheld the big Abnegation secret, and if Factionless learned of it, then it would certianly be destoryed. Tris, Christina, and Marucs head to Amity to request Johanna’s help. Her, including Susan’s brother, agree to help, with Amity’s resistance. They are then joined by Cara, and other Erudite rengade, Fernando, who acts as a navigator.
The “Insurgents” inflitrate Erudite headquarters. Fernando is killed, but they manage to access Jeanine’s laboratory. Inside, Tris undergos the simulations again while war is going on around her. The book ends with Tris opening the box to reveal the message that basically says that Divergents are the ones that will save humanity, and that Amity was to open the fence and go “beyond the wall” and re-enter population.
For more summaries of the beloved Divergent series, or information about Insurgent, go check out Bookstr!
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