Divergent by Veronica Roth
Published 2011 · 105,000 words · about 7 hours at an average pace · Coming-of-Age, Dystopian Fiction, Literary Fiction, Science Fiction
How hard is Divergent to read?
Divergent scores 16 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it relatively accessible. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 20 out of 100
- Accessible YA vocabulary with faction-specific terminology.
- Sentence structure: 18 out of 100
- Abstraction: 22 out of 100
- Concrete action with allegory about identity and conformity.
- Information density: 30 out of 100
- Fast-paced plot. Worldbuilding delivered through action.
- Narrative indirection: 100 out of 100
- Linear first-person narrative with few digressions.
- Symbolic density: 22 out of 100
- Factions as symbols for human virtues and their distortions.
- Ironic distance: 80 out of 100
- Earnest, fully committed to its protagonist's perspective.
- Resolution withholding: 15 out of 100
- First book resolves the coup but opens larger questions.
- Structural complexity: 12 out of 100
- Linear chronological plot with training-arc structure.
How Divergent is regarded
Divergent holds a literary regard score of 30 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.