I literally just found out about this book a few weeks ago. I was super excited to read it (obviously) because Divergent was part of my childhood. But while other people literally hated the ending, I think it was the only thing that fit (don’t come for me).  Just a PSA for those of you who haven’t read the original trilogy, you DO NOT need to read it in order to understand The Sixth Faction. This novel can definitely stand on its own without the originals (and is quite enjoyable even if you read the first three books).

With this new alternate universe, Tris chooses Abnegation. She obviously is very unhappy with that choice and ends up becoming factionless. This leads us on a completely different journey, but has relatively the same outcomes and questions that they must solve. Don’t worry! Four and Tris still end up meeting. I found that their relationship in this book, though, was a lot more mature than I remember Divergent being. Buuuut I will preface this by saying it’s been at least a decade since I read those books so I don’t know how much I can trust my memory. 

With Tris being factionless, we get to learn a TON about them and everything that goes on with people who don’t have a faction. It was pretty awesome to see that side of things. You also get way more interaction with Beatrice’s mother, which was SO GREAT. I feel like it added a deeper layer to Tris and getting to see who her mother truly was before everything happens. You also get chapters from Four and Caleb. I’ll go more into Caleb’s chapters in the spoilers, but Four’s were okay. Caleb’s were… unsatisfying in my opinion. 

Like I mentioned above, if you read Divergent, you know a lot of what goes on at the end. The Sixth Faction doesn’t stray much from the plotting and reveals, but different things happen at the ending that definitely didn’t happen in Divergent. I personally feel like Veronica Roth was trying to make everyone who hated Allegiant happy, but it felt like it came at a cost to her characters. 

Anywayyyy. On to the spoilers. 

Spoilers ahead for The Sixth Faction AND the Divergent trilogy!!!

Some bullet points that I feel like I need to touch on.

• Tris chooses Abnegation because Caleb chose Erudite and she couldn’t stand for her parents to lose both of them (this also came after her friend, Robert, was killed at the choosing ceremony – I have no idea if this happened in Divergent).
• Tris and Four still end up in a relationship, thank goodness.
• Tris’ mom and Four’s mom seem manipulative as hell (but as least Tris’ mom is a little better at mom-ing).
• Caleb’s chapters were enlightening just because you got to see inside Erudite and how Jeanine Matthews ended up getting under his skin. 
• Al still dies and so does Tris’ mom. 
• Cristina ends up with an eye patch because Peter stabs her in the eye. So she ends up being factionless with Tris. 
• The factionless were helping Dauntless and Erudite invade Abnegation (don’t remember if this happened in the actual trilogy). Basically Evelyn was helping Erudite get guns and it was a whole thing just so she could kill Marcus. 
• Annddddd here’s the one that really really pisses me off. TRIS KILLS CALEB. Talk about a freaking 180 from the way Allegiant ended. This seemed so out of character for her. Like, how do you go from sacrificing yourself to save your brother to killing your brother in an AU???? I understand that her brother was holding a gun to Four’s head, but you’re telling me that a boy without gun training couldn’t have been at least less mortally wounded to stop him? Four had taken guns from people before. It just doesn’t make sense to me either that Tris in ANY universe would have killed Caleb. It wasn’t like her character at all and this book would have gotten five stars had it not been for that one part. Veronica Roth was totally just appeasing everyone who hated the ending to Allegiant even though Tris’ character was bound for death based off her WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE. Any person who reads knows that this is the tragic hero story. SHE WOULDN’T HAVE KILLED CALEB AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL.
• “I’ll try to be worth what I cost you.” – Four

Overall, I gave this book 4.25 stars (thank you, Goodreads, for FINALLY adding this feature). I thought it was super entertaining, the writing is amazing (and the storytelling is, too), and the characters are just as good as they were in the original trilogy. Fans of the original trilogy will definitely appreciate this AU of Divergent. 

Source: Personal Copy

(P.S. You can read this book for free by signing up for a free trial of Audible, which gives you two free audiobooks of your choice!)