Blijkbaar is de Nederlandstalige versie van Allegiant (Samensmelting) onlangs gereleased en komt er nu dus een nieuwe golf van verontwaardiging/tranen/woede/… aan wanneer fans en bloggers het slotboek in de Divergent-serie gaan recenseren.

Na het lezen van de leuke recensie van Lilian van bookblog Booktraveler, kreeg ik zin om mijn oude Goodreadsrecensie ook nog eens van onder het stof te halen. Die dateert immers al weer van begin november en dat was net voor ik deze blog had, waardoor die nooit hier gepubliceerd is.

Wellicht (zeg maar heel zeker) ga ik dat voor bepaalde boeken wel vaker doen in de toekomst! Ik voel de weeën opkomen voor de geboorte van een nieuwe rubriek 😀 Getiteld … Van onder ‘t stof!

Hierbij de eerste blogpost in deze gloednieuwe rubriek! En hey, zeg nooit een “oude” recensie, zeg liever vintage of retro 😉 Of gerecycleerd!

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Wees wel gewaarschuwd: deze recensie bevat spoilers! JA, OOK DE SPOILER!!!

Ik meen het, stop nu meteen met lezen als je Allegiant/Samensmelting nog niet gelezen hebt.

SPOILERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Oké, nu ben je wel genoeg gewaarschuwd hé 🙂 Hier komt ‘ie dan!

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Wow that was not what I was expecting … at all.
Seems like I’ve totally misinterpreted the spoilers I came across on Tumblr etc, because the ending blew. Me. Away.

Obviously aware of the emotional distress the entire fandom was under after finishing it before me, I was 100% sure that Tris and Four would break up. I interpreted the spoiler-quote “I suppose a fire that burns that bright is not meant to last” as meaning the end of their relationship. And I was fine with that! More than fine, actually. I’m not much of a Fourtris-shipper anyways.

With the end of Fourtris in mind, I had part of my review for Allegiant already written when I was only halfway through the novel: I would’ve commended Roth for doing something as ‘Dauntless’ in YA as breaking up the star couple and I would’ve given it 5 stars.

Still giving it 5 stars now, mostly because it caught me by surprise so much that Tris f*cking DIED! (pardon my French). Because as rare as it is for the main couple to break up in YA, it’s even more rare for the main character to kick the bloody bucket and be dead dead dead. Not – “there’s a magical resurrection around the corner!”-dead, but “yeah we just scattered her ashes”-dead. Wow. What?

Could you imagine Twilight if Bella had died in labour, leaving Edward to care for Renesmee by himself for all of eternity? Could you imagine The Hunger Games if Katniss would’ve jumped on that bomb to protect Prim, killing them both? What’s it all been for, in the end?
Veronica Roth, yes you are Dauntless. Because killing your main girl is very very brave. But also sort of selfish towards your readers. You have killed off the future that would’ve lived on in their minds, which is all they have when the last page is turned and the final word said and done.

Anyways, I did enjoy Allegiant (mostly because it finally more or less explained the silly nonsensical world introduced to us in Divergent), though it had some flaws: there was no distinction between Tris’ and Tobias’ voice in their separate chapters. I often found myself confused and having to go back to the beginning of the chapter to see whose it was. Roth could learn a thing or two from L.A. Weatherly and for instance Maggie Stiefvater in that respect.
Also, the ending after Tris died was waaaay to long, which means losing your readers’ emotional response to her death in needless extra chapters that didn’t even provide a bittersweet ending to counter her bitter death.

If I could rewrite the ending, I would keep in the part about Tris sacrificing herself for Caleb (because she would totally do that), but I would have her survive the death serum all the same and reunite with Four.
Then, in the epilogue, I would visit them in their later lives with new partners: “I suppose a fire that burns that bright is not meant to last”. Four would’ve ended up with Cara in the end, and Tris with Matthew. Uriah would’ve still died, because hey, someone needs to.
I liked the part about Peter taking the memory serum, so that could stay in.
And if Tris rrrreeaaallly needed to die and Veronica rrrreeeaaallly wanted to rip our hearts out, she should’ve let Tobias take the memory serum and start over in a ‘Destiny’ by Aprilynne Pike sort of way.

In conclusion: What a ride!

(note: Was anyone else reminded of the Scorch Trials and the Death Cure by James Dashner? With Nita being Brenda? Or was that just me?)