I read “Divergent” in January. It was so good that I finished it in 24 hours and as soon as I was done, I bought the second book of the trilogy, “Insurgent.” That one was so good that I proceeded to read it in less than 24 hours and immediately bought the third book, “Allegiant.”

I absolutely loved the trilogy. I give them five out of five possible stars. But the movie? I’m going to give it a four out of five.

Let me preface this by saying I enjoyed the movie. If I hadn’t read the books, I would’ve thought it was flawless. But, I did read the books, so of course I’m finding some things the movie didn’t quite do justice.

First of all, I would like to say that I think the movie did an excellent job of following the events in the book. There wasn’t anything thrown in there that didn’t actually happen in the book, with the exception of some dialogue.

But overall, each scene in the movie was a scene from the book and I commend the directors on that. They didn’t stray far from the storyline just because it was a movie and that’s awesome.

However, they did a pretty bad job of leaving some crucial parts out of the movie. In the book, you get a pretty strong sense of the bond and relationship between the characters.
In the movie, you don’t really see that bond at all.

For instance, when Al committed suicide, in the movie it seems pretty random but in the books it made perfect sense.

The book explains how Al had been feeling homesick and depressed. He wasn’t doing well during his training in Dauntless and he seemed constantly disappointed in himself. He and Tris had become really good friends throughout the initiation process until he helped attempt to kill her.

When she wouldn’t forgive him, he killed himself. But it is necessary to know all of his struggles to know why he took his own life.

The same thing goes for Christina and Will. You see them grow and really start to like each other in the book. They were a trio of friends; well, Al was part of it too while he was still around. So when Tris killed Will, you knew in the book how hard it was for her, not only because of her friendship with Will but because of her friendship with Christina.

In the movie, it was still sad and you felt for her, but you didn’t get to see the bond that she shared with him to really understand how sad it actually was.
Also, she and Four in the book have a much more explainable relationship. In the movie, you see them have a relationship, but it doesn’t really develop in the same way it did in the book. And it doesn’t really make sense how one minute he’s stern with her and the next he’s making out with her.

In the books, though, you actually see their relationship unfold and understand why they trust each other and are so into each other.

Also, the movie portrays Tris as very brave. And don’t get me wrong, she definitely is. But, in the book she struggles a lot within herself. In the movie, she is just brave and fearless and can do anything. In the books, her mind is a lot more timid and she second guesses a lot of her actions. You don’t see that uneasy person at all in the movie.

Same with Peter. In the movie, he’s annoying and no one likes him. He’s a lot more than just a nuisance and an aggravating 16-year-old in the book; he’s someone who makes your stomach churn. But the movie didn’t show that very well – they just made him a little unlikeable.

That’s enough examples to back up my case. Bottom line is, they did a great job of showing the storyline and events happening in the book, but they did a mediocre job of showing the relationship between characters.

Overall, though, I thought it was a great movie. And of course I’ll see it again. But I definitely recommend everyone read the books to really get the full experience of what is going on in “Divergent.”