Four: A Divergent Collection By Veronica Roth

Summary

Since all but one of the short stories contained in Four pre-date the rest of the Divergent series chronology, this book is now largely considered a prequel to the series. However, the stories contained in it were written and published after the rest of the series. IMHO, it’s better to read the series first and then read these stories as an addition. Otherwise, readers will get some significant spoilers for the main part of the series. Also, if read in this order, readers will already have an understanding of who Four is as a character as well as some knowledge of the common characters who are introduced in the series and the faction system as a whole.

The Transfer – The Transfer begins with Tobias taking his aptitude test, which like Tris’s test, was administered by Tori. My one and only slight complaint and the reason I knocked off a half star is because I seem to recall Tori telling Tris (albeit reluctantly) that she was Divergent, whereas, she didn’t seem particularly phased by Tobias’s test and didn’t tell him anything about being Divergent. This seemed a little inconsistent with the rest of the series, so I’ll be interested to find out exactly how he learns this about himself.

Otherwise, I very much enjoyed The Transfer, in all honesty, even more so than the series as a whole. Even though I already knew about most of the information that’s revealed in this story, I found Tobias to be a compelling character. We get a glimpse of his life with his abusive father before he transfers factions on Choosing Day, as well as how he came to make the decision to leave Abnegation even though his aptitude test supposedly pegged him in the faction of his birth. I thought this showed him to be a courageous character to make that kind of stand. In addition, we get to see his first day in Dauntless initiation, how he fared compared to Tris, and how he came by the nickname Four.

I felt much more connected to Four as a character then I did when reading the rest of the Divergent series. I also, in many ways, found him to be a more interesting character than Tris, which is why I was rather surprised to read in Veronica Roth’s introduction to the book that she originally began writing the series in Tobias’s perspective, but then stalled out thirty pages into it because she didn’t feel like he was the right narrator for the story. She didn’t pick it back up again until four years later, when she came up with the character of Tris. I try not to second-guess authors, because as one myself, I know you can’t always please everyone and sometimes, you have to do what you think is right for your story. However, in this case, it’s my humble opinion that Tobias could have made a great narrator and perhaps I might have liked the Divergent series as a whole better if he had been. In any case, I look forward to reading the remaining stories in this anthology to learn more about him and his history. Star Rating: ****1/2; Sensuality Rating: 0

The Initiate – The Initiate is the second novella in the Four collection that follows the character of Four during his early days in Dauntless a couple of years before meeting Tris in the main Divergent story. In this novella, we get to see some of his training as a Dauntless initiate. We discover the origins of his rivalry with Eric, and it makes a lot more sense now why these two were always at odds. The initiates engage in a game of Dare, which leads to Four getting his first tattoo and getting drunk for the first time. He also begins to build some tentative friendships with Shauna and Zeke, which is a big step for this loner, and we can start to see how he ended up as a Dauntless trainer. I think the most interesting part of the story, though, is when Four starts to realize there’s something different about him because of his ability to be conscious while in fear simulations. This leads him to recall his father’s insistent warning that he not do anything strange during his aptitude test. It’s also the first time we get an inkling of his understanding of being Divergent although it still hasn’t been called that, and he also realizes that he’ll need to cover his tracks and not do anything that might “out” himself.

Overall, there’s quite a bit going on in The Initiate for such a short novella, so things don’t get explored in as much detail as I might have liked. I think the reason it seemed this way is that I still can’t help feeling that Four either should have been the narrator of the Divergent series, or better yet, it should have been done in dual narration. I believe I would have felt much more connected to him in the main part of the series if it had been. So far, I’ve enjoyed getting these little glimpses into his perspective. In this story, I was particularly intrigued by his aversion to the violence that’s an everyday part of Dauntless life, which is understandable given his background of abuse. The main reason I knocked off the half-star, though, is that I couldn’t help feeling like his character still could have been fleshed out even more. He has such an interesting backstory that, from an emotional perspective, only seems to come into play in bits and pieces, when I really wanted the author to dig deep. It was nice, though, to see some of the supporting characters from the series: Amar, Zeke, Uriah, Shauna, Jeanine, Eric, and how their stories evolved and intertwined with Four’s as well. Overall, this was a good read that I still liked a bit more than the Divergent series as a whole, and I look forward to reading more of these stories from Four’s POV. Star Rating: ****1/2; Sensuality Rating: 0

The Son – In The Son, the third novella that explores Four’s life before meeting Tris in Divergent, he has completed the Dauntless initiation at the top of his class. As such, he’s eligible to choose pretty much any job he wants within the faction. He thinks he might want to be a trainer, but Max, one of the faction leaders, thinks he’s qualified for much more and wants him to go through the process of trying to become a Dauntless leader. This leads to a lot of contemplations on Four’s part as he tries to decide if this is what he wants to do with his life, while also continuing his rivalry with Eric for the same position. At the same time, Four accidentally discovers that there may be something foul afoot between Dauntless and Erudite, which makes him realize that hiding his “differences” are all the more important. Also for the first time, he hears the term Divergent applied to his awareness during simulations, and he also deals with a shocking revelation from his past.

The more of these novellas I read about Four, the more I’m convinced the Divergent series as a whole would have been better, IMHO, if either he had narrated it or if it had been done in dual narration. I’ve been enjoying these stories more than the main part of the series, and one of the reasons why is because they’re written in Four’s perspective. I feel like his character is really developing and coming alive in my mind’s eye far better than he ever did before. And for some reason, this particular story seemed to have an even deeper POV than the previous two or the series in general. Four is still the loner, preferring to take up residence in his own apartment after initiation, rather than with others within the faction, but he does still have a few friends. He also struggles between his two identities as someone who supposedly tested with an aptitude for Abnegation, but fearing his father’s abuse, chose to leave and become Dauntless. Four really starts figuring things out, both in his own life and in the events that are going on around him, which leads to more introspection. Overall, it was a really good read that I very much enjoyed. In addition to feeling more engaged in Four’s POV, I liked seeing more of the secondary characters who become a part of the main series: Eric, Zeke, Uriah, Shauna, Lynn, and Marlene. I also liked learning about the history of various plot points within the Divergent series and how those things came about. It was enlightening as well as entertaining, and very much makes me look forward to reading the final story in this anthology. Star Rating: *****; Sensuality Rating: 0.5

The Traitor – The Traitor was a nice wrap-up to the Four anthology and to the group of novellas that have now become widely viewed as prequels to the Divergent series. Despite that, I personally still think it’s better to at least read Divergent first. Otherwise, the reader will get major spoilers for that book and some things might not make a lot of sense. That’s especially true with this novella, which takes place pretty much simultaneously with events in Divergent. In this story, we learn how Four became aware of the unholy alliance between Dauntless and Erudite and their plans to attack Abnegation. He goes through some soul-searching as he tries to decide whether to warn his birth faction or not, as well as whether he can trust anyone enough to tell them these things. As he struggles with figuring those things out, he meets Tris and becomes her trainer, and we get to see some of the early parts of their relationship from his POV.

I think I’ve said it with each new novella I read in this series, but it might bear repeating that IMHO, the Divergent series as a whole would have been much better if it had been written in dual perspective. Getting Four’s POV on many of the events of the series has been great and has really helped to deepen my understanding of him as a character and some of the things that happened. It’s been so long since I read Divergent that I can’t recall precisely how the specific scenes in this novella compare to those same scenes in the main book from Tris’s POV, but I do recall complaining in my review of that book that the parts where Four takes Tris into his fear landscape along with their subsequent discussion and first kiss at the chasm afterward didn’t hold the emotional weight I felt they should have. Well, in this novella, that’s completely different, and I believe it’s all owed to the fact that we’re seeing what all this meant to Four. We learn why he chose to take Tris into his fear landscape and what it felt like for him going through that with her. We also get a richer conversation afterward and get to see his burgeoning feelings for her, too. It all made their relationship much more cohesive for me. The only reason I chose to knock off a half-star is because a few of the scenes seemed a bit repetitive with us only getting a slightly different perspective, but overall, I liked this novella a lot and really think that these scenes should have been included in the main Divergent book. Star Rating: ****1/2; Sensuality Rating: 1

Bonus Content – At the end of the book, we get three additional scenes from Divergent written from Four’s POV. First, is his reaction to Tris being the first jumper on choosing day. The second one continues with the events of choosing day in Dauntless, as Four gives the new transfers a tour of the facility and shares their first meal as new Dauntless initiates. The final one, I can’t recall the exact timing of, but I believe it’s later in the story, when a party is taking place in the Pit. Four has a little too much to drink and the alcohol loosens his tongue around Tris. Again, I felt like all of these scenes gave me valuable insights into Four’s mind and emotions and would have been helpful if included in the main story.