Book Review: Four (Divergent #0.1-0.4), Veronica Roth

Title: Four
Series: Divergent #0.1-0.4
Author: Veronica Roth
Published: 08/07/2014, HarperCollins
Pages: 285
Source: Bought
Format: Paperback
Rating: 3/5

Two years before Beatrice Prior makes her choice, the sixteen-year-old son of Abnegation's faction leader does the same, Tobias's transfer to Dauntless is his chance to begin again, newly renamed "Four" he discovers that initiation is only the beginning...

Four must claim his place in the Dauntless hierarchy. And his decisions will affect future initiates as well as uncover secrets that could threaten his own future - and the future of the entire faction system.

Two years later, Four is poised to act but the course is still unclear. The first new initiate who jumps into the net might change all that. With her, the way to righting their world might become clear. With her, it might become possible to be Tobias once again.

Four consists of four short stories about... you guessed it - Four! It was a relatively nice read for gaining a bit of insight into Four's past.

The first three stories (The Transfer; The Initiate; and The Son) are set quite close together and show Four's transformation from Abnegation to Dauntless. It was really nice (totally not the right word) to see how Four developed from a young boy scared of his own father to the brave man that Tris met. My heart cried out for him, especially in The Transfer where the abuse is so clearly shown.

The Traitor overlaps with the story in Divergent and follows Four as he tries to work out what Max and Jeanine are up to. We do gain that extra perspective of Four's growing feelings for Tris. But I will admit it did feel really like deja vu when I was reading. Sure we see what he's up to but there wasn't much to the story that we didn't already know. This sort of applies to all Four of the stories - we know the basics but are given that bit extra.

I did like seeing more of Four's relationships with the other Dauntless members. Especially his friendship with Zeke and Shauna and his growing animosity with Eric, Max, and Jeanine. You get the feeling that Zeke and Shauna really take Four under their wings and try to include him in things when he tries to stay to himself. I really don't think Four would have turned into the Four that we know in Divergent without them.

Overall, Four was a nice, little read but it was a bit samey and boring in places. It would have been nice to get some new information. Maybe a bit more of Four's life after Allegiant. Or maybe even a story of how the factions came to be in more detail than what is given in the trilogy.

Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository

Veronica Roth / Goodreads / Twitter

Follow me via Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Bloglovin and Pinterest and also via email to myexpandingbookshelf@gmail.com.

Feel free to leave a comment.