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is a dark and thrilling young adult sci-fi series from bestselling author . It's set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago that has separated its population into five Factions, each defined by a given set of values, personality traits, and social affiliations. The Factions are Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the kind), Erudite (the intelligent), Abnegation (the selfless), and Candor (the honest). Each year, those who have reached the age of 16 take a placement test and then choose the Faction to which they will devote the rest of their life. In the series, we follow Tris. At her placement test, she receives inconclusive results and is labeled "Divergent." She is warned to never tell anyone. But as Tris grows older and learns more about the world, she starts to question the whole Faction system and the ways it's used to divide and control people.
Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the Divergent series.
What happens in the Divergent series?
16-year-old Beatrice Prior has grown up in Abnegation, but when she takes her placement test and receives results that mark her as "Divergent," everything changes. Her test administrator, Tori, warns her never to tell anyone. Beatrice chooses to leave Abnegation and join Dauntless. Meanwhile, her brother Caleb chooses to join Erudite. When Beatrice joins Dauntless, she changes her name to Tris and forms a relationship with Four. Four explains to Tris that, unlike other Factions, not everyone who chooses Dauntless will be accepted. Only the top ten will be allowed to stay. The rest will become Factionless, which in this world means homeless.
While Tris trains to become Dauntless, Erudite is stirring dissent within Abnegation. This supposedly selfless Faction is accused of hoarding supplies and their leader, Marcus, is accused of abusing his son—an accusation further fueled by the fact that Marcus's son has left Abnegation, along with Tris and Caleb.
Tris does well in the Dauntless trials. In the first round, she places sixth. In the second round, she is forced to face vivid hallucinations of her greatest fear. Because Tris is Divergent, her additional abilities give her a bonus in this round. She makes top rank, which draws the attention of the other competitors. A few try to attack her, but Four comes to her rescue. In the final stage, the Dauntless are tested by going through a fear landscape. Four allows Tris to see his landscape. This is how she learns that Four is actually Marcus's son, Tobias, and the accusations of abuse are true.
After the Dauntless initiates overcome their fear landscape, they are all injected with a tracking serum. Far from harmless, the serum has a hypnotic effect, turning them into mindless soldiers set to attack the Abnegation Faction. Due to their Divergent qualities, both Tris and Four are protected from the serum's effects. However, Four is soon captured by Erudite's leader, Jeanine Matthews, who uses another serum to put him under her control. Meanwhile, Tris returns to Abnegation to try to save her mother. Her mother dies in the attack—but not before revealing that she, too, was Divergent. After Four is able to break free of Jeanine's control, both he and Tris free the Dauntless and board a train to the Amity Faction to help Abnegation's survivors.