“Readers first encountered Tobias as “Four” in Divergent. His voice is an integral part of Allegiant. Readers will find more of this charismatic character’s backstory told from his own perspective in Four: A Divergent Collection. When read together, these long narrative pieces illuminate the defining moments in Tobias’s life. The first three pieces in this volume—”The Transfer,” “The Initiate,” and “The Son”—follow Tobias’s transfer from Abnegation to Dauntless, his Dauntless initiation, and the first clues that a foul plan is brewing in the leadership of two factions. The fourth story, “The Traitor,” runs parallel with the events of Divergent, giving readers a glimpse into the decisions of loyalty—and love—that Tobias makes in the weeks after he meets Tris Prior.”
I learned in ‘Allegiant’ that Four and Tris have very similar voices. That makes sense now knowing the author‘s history with the series. All that being said, Four’s initiation is just like Tris’s. This was all too similar to the first book of the series with slight hints of potential with Four’s insights into his inner thoughts.
The atmosphere still feels like ‘Divergent’, but in this land without an active war. Four is a very serious character, but we get to see him let loose in games like DARE. There was nostalgia and youthfulness to the tone of the story.
Veronica Roth loves to be repetitive with writing out mannerisms this time it is: “pinching the hem of a shirt”. I’ve seen this multiple times in her books but overall this was an easy and quick read thanks to the writing.
The plot did not add anything new to the series. I don’t believe this is a necessary installment. I had enough info at these hinted scenes to come up with the stories in my mind. This installment does not bring anything new to the table. It reads light fan service.
There were no moments of massive intrigue, as I ultimately know where the story goes thankfully, the momentum was fast moving.
The story did make sense with everything we know about Four as a character. The few add in scenes with his parents, and the war did make me uneasy and leave a lack of balance to the main series, now that I know what Four knew ahead of time.
This would have worked better for me if I had read it when it was originally published. As of now I would recommend it to the mega fans rather than the casual. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t bring anything new to the table or do that much for me.
2.42 out of 5 stars.
Izzy Reads 