Four: A Divergent Story Collection (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
Enjoyable as light reading but don't expect anything groundbreaking or any shocking revelations. As a rule, if you're going to introduce back stories to existing characters, you want that story to expand the character in some way. Unfortunately in these stories you get exactly what you'd expect from Four, without any significant character development whatsoever. Aside from a bit of extra background to the main plot of Divergent, every event and experience mimics what happens to Tris in the first book. Most of this is done somewhat artificially to fit with established events (e.g. twisting the initiation process around just so make sure that Four gets his new name early on).Of the different short stories, the first three are the most enjoyable. The latter stories, which coincide with the events of Divergent, suffer from trying too hard to capture all the events of that novel in too few pages. The narrative skips along at a tremendous pace, giving as many different scenes as possible the once-over-lightly from Four's perspective, which usually amounts to no more than what a love-struck teenager was doing before and after. In contrast, the first three stories benefit from taking place before the events of Divergent. This allows them to delve into greater, though still not extensive detail.Fans of the series will enjoy this work, but I think it falls into the "if this was never published, we really would have gotten on with our lives perfectly fine" category. A tip for anyone who wants to read this book: MAKE SURE YOU FINISH THE FIRST DIVERGENT BOOK!! The amount of spoilers in this novel is unreal, and I believe that it is assumed that the reader should READ THE FIRST BOOK before even setting eyes on this novel. However, this book is amazing. Reading about the Divergent world from Four's perspective has been one of the most fantastic experiences so far in this series. I am currently reading the second book, so this was the perfect time for this novel to enter my life. Four has been my favorite character since he was introduced in Divergent, but I give him more respect now than ever. He's clever, gorgeous, and I would have actually preferred if this entire series was told from his perspective. HOWEVER...I understand why Tris has to be the main character, and I am so glad that they are meant for each other..if you love Divergent, you need to read this book.
What do You think about Four: A Divergent Story Collection (2014)?
"One thing I know: For helping me forget how awful the world is, I prefer her to alcohol."
—Diedra
Definitely not a stand-alone book. Interesting as a companion to Divergent series.
—rmbotran
