Book Review: Four by Veronica Roth

Now reviewing... Four by Veronica Roth

I decided to give this book 4 stars! 

I was a huge fan of the Divergent trilogy, so I was really excited when I first heard that Four was going to be published! I mean, I wasn't a fan of the ending of Allegiant (book #3), but I don't think anyone that read that series enjoyed that ending. Regardless, I threw this book on my "to be read" list and waited until a good opportunity to buy it came around. Finally, that day presented itself last week when I had a bunch of gift card money on Amazon, woo hoo! Finally, for the last few days, I was able to quickly read this book and get a better understanding of Four/Tobias. 

If you have read Divergent, I would highly recommend this book. If you haven't yet read Divergent, I would start there and read the trilogy, then read this one last. Although it technically is like a prequel, it will definitely make a lot mroe sense after the other three books!

Here is a blurb about the book:

"Two years before Beatrice Prior made her choice, the sixteen-year-old son of Abnegation’s faction leader did the same. Tobias’s transfer to Dauntless is a chance to begin again. Here, he will not be called the name his parents gave him. Here, he will not let fear turn him into a cowering child.

Newly christened “Four,” he discovers during initiation that he will succeed in Dauntless. Initiation is only the beginning, though; Four must claim his place in the Dauntless hierarchy. 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 take action, 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."

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

So the book is split into four (of course) sections labeled "The Transfer", "The Initiate", "The Son", and "The Traitor". Each section depicts a certain important time in Tobias's life starting with his transfer from Abnegation to Dauntless and ending with his traitorous thoughts against his current faction. I really enjoyed each section and found it interesting learning new things about Tobias. 

In "The Transfer", we get to understand more of why he transferred from Abnegation to Dauntless. If you have read Divergent, you know that it was because his father beat him, which is as good a reason as any to get away. This portion of the book really looked into his previous life and what he was thinking heading into his new life in Dauntless. 

In "The Initiate", we learn about the newly christened Four and why he has gained that name. Turns out, he only has four fears (which is also already known if you have read Divergent). We also get to see the beginning stages of a hateful relationship between Four and Eric, future Dauntless leader. In Divergent, it was a little unclear why Four and Eric hate each other so much, so it was nice to read about how their relationship started and what events led to their rocky "friendship".

In "The Son", we find out that Four's mother is in fact, not dead. Interesting! Another fact that if you have read the trilogy, you already know, but this portion revolves around that. I enjoyed seeing their relationship be rekindled because mother-son relationships are always nice. Although I do not agree with why she left in the first place and how everyone lied to Tobias, it was good to include this to more deeply understand why Four has certain problems. His parents haven't necessarily raised him well.

Lastly, in "The Traitor", we see less of the Dauntless-Four and more of the well-rounded Four. He discovers a plan to attack his previous faction, Abnegation, and after some more investigation tries to warn his father who is the head council leader in Abnegation. After being shut down by his father, it is up to Four to determine who he trusts enough to help him in his traitorous acts against Dauntless so he can protect the selfless inhabitants of Abnegation. In this section, Tris makes her entrance and we get to see their relationship unfold from Four's POV which gives a fresh look at what they have. It's nice to gain his perspective on her and see how much he really begins to care for her. 

So all-in-all, I enjoyed all of the perspectives and new information we gained throughout the four sections of Four's life. The main thing I didn't like is that it did get a little confusing in some of the time gaps because there wasn't anything really signifying how much later the next section was after the previous one. Also, if you have already read the Divergent series, a lot of the information is repeated, so sometimes it wasn't very exciting. These are what lost the 5th star from me, but that's okay.

I hope you enjoyed this review!

Happy reading! :)