Status
Available
Series
Publication
Katherine Tegen Books (2014), Edition: 1ST, 304 pages
Description
A collection of four pre-Divergent stories plus three additional scenes from Divergent, all told from Tobias's point of view, that follow Tobias's transfer from Abnegation to Dauntless, his Dauntless initiation, the first clues that a foul plan is brewing in the leadership of two factions, and the weeks after he meets Tris Prior.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member loveofreading
It was a long wait for Veronica Roth's Four but I feel like it was worth it. This collection of short stories gives you a little more insight into Four's character, the Dauntless compound, and other characters such as Tori and Eric.
Simply put, if you enjoyed Divergent, you will enjoy Four. It gives
Like the rest of the series, it is a book for teen readers. It contains references to drinking, tattoos, danger-seeking thrills, violence, and romantic relationships. However, there is nothing graphic or disturbing and Roth handles mature content in a way that is appropriate and purposeful for her YA audience.
This isn't a book that needs a lot of publicity. If you like the series, you'll automatically want to read this one. I was excited to read it and for what it was, my expectations are satisfied. It's thrilling simply because Veronica Roth gives you more, but it was nothing special in considerations of writing style, plot, or characters. All in all, a decent read!
Simply put, if you enjoyed Divergent, you will enjoy Four. It gives
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you some background into Tobias' life before Tris and allows you to appreciate and understand his character a little more. My personal favourite of the short stories is the one where Tobias rescues Tris from being thrown into the chasm. I enjoyed reading about their relationship from his point-of-view.Like the rest of the series, it is a book for teen readers. It contains references to drinking, tattoos, danger-seeking thrills, violence, and romantic relationships. However, there is nothing graphic or disturbing and Roth handles mature content in a way that is appropriate and purposeful for her YA audience.
This isn't a book that needs a lot of publicity. If you like the series, you'll automatically want to read this one. I was excited to read it and for what it was, my expectations are satisfied. It's thrilling simply because Veronica Roth gives you more, but it was nothing special in considerations of writing style, plot, or characters. All in all, a decent read!
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LibraryThing member michele.juza
It was cool reading his background story & it was interesting to read parts of Divergent from HIS view.
LibraryThing member EdGoldberg
Four: A Divergent Collection contains four stories told from Tobias’ point of view. The Transfer discusses why Tobias chose to transfer to the Dauntless faction rather than stay in Abnegation—escape his abusive father, Marcus. The Initiate takes the reader through Tobias’ initiation into
Readers must have read the Divergent trilogy in order to understand and appreciate the stories. They do not add dramatically to the knowledge imparted in the previous books. The timeline of these stories covers approximately two years but is murky in relation to the trilogy books, especially The Son. The stories are simply written and reiterate things Divergent readers already know. The characters are very one dimensional. The locale, especially Dauntless headquarters, is not very well described. However, the name Divergent will carry this book and result in high circulation.
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Dauntless, primarily facing his fears through simulation serum. It also describes the origin of Tobias’ Dauntless name, “Four”. In The Son, Four finds an anonymous note in his apartment telling him where and when to meet the sender. The note’s details indicate that the writer close to Four, so he assumes it is Marcus. However, upon arriving at the destination, he finds his mother, Evelyn, a woman who he believed was dead for half his life. She voices concerns about the factions, actually confirming some of Four’s own thoughts. Finally, in The Traitor, Four describes his initial attraction to Tris and is faced with a dilemma about an impending attack on Abnegation.Readers must have read the Divergent trilogy in order to understand and appreciate the stories. They do not add dramatically to the knowledge imparted in the previous books. The timeline of these stories covers approximately two years but is murky in relation to the trilogy books, especially The Son. The stories are simply written and reiterate things Divergent readers already know. The characters are very one dimensional. The locale, especially Dauntless headquarters, is not very well described. However, the name Divergent will carry this book and result in high circulation.
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LibraryThing member EGHS-LMC
Roth has produced another great visit to the land of the Divergent. This one is told from the viewpoint of Four and gives some more back story and his perspective. Great read if you are into DIVERGENT!
LibraryThing member bell7
Four longish short stories and three short-short scenes from Divergent told from Tobias' perspective give more of his backstory.
"The Transfer," "The Initiate," "The Son" and "The Traitor" are not traditional short stories in that they don't stand alone from the Divergent novels, but for fans
As such, this isn't really a cohesive collection, which is why I ultimately rated it 4 stars. I enjoyed it, but wouldn't reread it apart from the series, and it's not really necessary to your overall understanding of the characters. But for those that can't get enough of the story, it is interesting to get Tobias' take.
"The Transfer," "The Initiate," "The Son" and "The Traitor" are not traditional short stories in that they don't stand alone from the Divergent novels, but for fans
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interested in more of Tobias' story, they're worth reading. I believe most if not all were released as e-books and meant to be read alone or together, as some of them repeat or briefly sum up what happens in another so they can be read in any order. The three scenes explain what's going on in Tobias' head during three interactions he has with Tris. As such, this isn't really a cohesive collection, which is why I ultimately rated it 4 stars. I enjoyed it, but wouldn't reread it apart from the series, and it's not really necessary to your overall understanding of the characters. But for those that can't get enough of the story, it is interesting to get Tobias' take.
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LibraryThing member susiesharp
This was ok, I had hoped for a little more, not just a rehash of what we already read, there wasn't any real big revelations into Tobias that we didn't already know and I would have rather had a story about him after Allegiant.
2 1/2 stars
2 1/2 stars
LibraryThing member jmach226
1000 times better than Insurgent and Allegiant combined!
LibraryThing member ecm014
I absolutely love this book, I actually just finished on a bus ride to the SHSU v. LSU game yesterday. I have read the three book Divergent series and this book happens to just be another characters back story and point of view. I found in an interview with the author Veronica Roth that she
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initially intended the three book series to be from this character Four's point of view but ran into some obstacles and went another direction. Though I am glad she valued Four's perspective enough to still complete a short story collection in his voice. Show Less
LibraryThing member aimless22
Veronica Roth first began writing the character of Tobias Eaton four years before she found Beatrice "Tris" Prior to be the true voice of the Divergent series.
I found this collection of stories from Tobias "Four" Eaton's POV to be fascinating. After reading the entire Divergent series, it is very
The book has four sections (fittingly) that cover his Choosing Day and transfer to Dauntless, his experience as an Initiate in training, his role as the Son to his no-longer-dead mother, and his budding relationship with Tris as he determines that he will be a Traitor to one faction or another.
The fourth section overlaps with a part of Divergent and feels so right. I found myself trying to figure out Four while reading Divergent and I am rewarded by Ms. Roth - I figured him our correctly.
A satisfying collection of stories from Four's POV.
I found this collection of stories from Tobias "Four" Eaton's POV to be fascinating. After reading the entire Divergent series, it is very
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interesting to step back and think about the younger Tobias, before he met Tris. The book has four sections (fittingly) that cover his Choosing Day and transfer to Dauntless, his experience as an Initiate in training, his role as the Son to his no-longer-dead mother, and his budding relationship with Tris as he determines that he will be a Traitor to one faction or another.
The fourth section overlaps with a part of Divergent and feels so right. I found myself trying to figure out Four while reading Divergent and I am rewarded by Ms. Roth - I figured him our correctly.
A satisfying collection of stories from Four's POV.
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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
It was interesting to have as the main character and get his perspective on the events that we see from Tris's point of view. I also liked getting to know Four better and understanding his background and how he really felt about Tris.
LibraryThing member edspicer
If I were to recommend this book to my friend I would tell them that if you want to learn more about Four from Divergent, then this is a great book for you to read. 5Q5P The cover art is awesome and I'd recommend this book to middle and high school students as well as adults. I chose to read this
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because I've read the whole Divergent series and I wanted to learn more about Four's life. VictoriaE Show Less
LibraryThing member Book-Dragon1952
This collection helps explain where Four came from and why he is the way he is. Very helpful in understanding him.
LibraryThing member BelleBooks117
First Posted on bellesbeautifulbooks.blospot.com
Initial Thoughts:
I liked reading this. I love Four as a character, so this was naturally a good read for me. I had fun reading the stories, but they were in not that great.
The Good:
It seemed like Veronica did a better job developing Four's voice than
I liked reading about Four's initiation, and getting a different take on how the initiation changed from Four's year to Tris'. The initiation was my favorite part of the normal series for me, and I loved getting a different take on it.
You really got to see how much of an ass Eric is not only as he was in Divergent, but how he has always been since he joined Dauntless.
The Bad:
I'm just going to put it out there that I thought the exclusive scenes were kind of pointless; they were scenes from Divergent from Four's perspective, and they were just not very interesting scenes. There were much more interesting things that happened in Divergent that we could have gotten in the exclusive scenes.
I don't think Tris should have been a very big part of the novellas because it is 100% about Four's experience, and Tris was after the fact.
Initial Thoughts:
I liked reading this. I love Four as a character, so this was naturally a good read for me. I had fun reading the stories, but they were in not that great.
The Good:
It seemed like Veronica did a better job developing Four's voice than
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she did in Allegiant. I could actually tell that he thought differently that Tris when reading this book.I liked reading about Four's initiation, and getting a different take on how the initiation changed from Four's year to Tris'. The initiation was my favorite part of the normal series for me, and I loved getting a different take on it.
You really got to see how much of an ass Eric is not only as he was in Divergent, but how he has always been since he joined Dauntless.
The Bad:
I'm just going to put it out there that I thought the exclusive scenes were kind of pointless; they were scenes from Divergent from Four's perspective, and they were just not very interesting scenes. There were much more interesting things that happened in Divergent that we could have gotten in the exclusive scenes.
I don't think Tris should have been a very big part of the novellas because it is 100% about Four's experience, and Tris was after the fact.
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LibraryThing member KamGeb
This is Four's point of view about what happened in Divergent. I think you have to read Divergent first in order to really appreciate this book. I would recommend it if you liked Divergent.
LibraryThing member Shiraloo
Not bad, but I wanted it to be a bit more in-depth into Four's feelings.
LibraryThing member AnigL
A great compliment to the Divergent series.
LibraryThing member JenW1
I really enjoyed getting inside Four's head and understanding him better. This book doesn't cover the whole story, it barely reaches the middle of Divergent chronologically, but you get to see Four's background and understand what made him who he is. It was a quick read and entertaining. If you
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enjoyed the Divergent series, you will like this, even if you're not a fan of the "same story from a different point of view" book. Recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member blue_fantasy
This book was a lot of fun and a great filler between other reads. It was great to explore more of Four's character. There isn't much new here, just a chance to get to know Four a bit better. Which isn't a bad thing at all.
It did seem to take a long time for Four to get his own voice. Maybe it's
It surprised me a bit to learn that Roth had originally planned for Four to be her protagonist of her trilogy. So I guess this is an exploration (and a bit of a tease) of what if that had been.
All in all, it was really interesting to learn more about Four's past, amp up the hate for Eric even more, get to know some of the other players in the game (like Max), and to see a lot of what he was up to while Tris was going through initiation. Four is a fun read, and a good addition to the Divergent trilogy.
It did seem to take a long time for Four to get his own voice. Maybe it's
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the first person, present tense that Roth likes to write in, but it took a very long time for him to really develop a personality. Although, I felt the same about Tris when reading Divergent.It surprised me a bit to learn that Roth had originally planned for Four to be her protagonist of her trilogy. So I guess this is an exploration (and a bit of a tease) of what if that had been.
All in all, it was really interesting to learn more about Four's past, amp up the hate for Eric even more, get to know some of the other players in the game (like Max), and to see a lot of what he was up to while Tris was going through initiation. Four is a fun read, and a good addition to the Divergent trilogy.
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LibraryThing member blue_fantasy
This book was a lot of fun and a great filler between other reads. It was great to explore more of Four's character. There isn't much new here, just a chance to get to know Four a bit better. Which isn't a bad thing at all.
It did seem to take a long time for Four to get his own voice. Maybe it's
It surprised me a bit to learn that Roth had originally planned for Four to be her protagonist of her trilogy. So I guess this is an exploration (and a bit of a tease) of what if that had been.
All in all, it was really interesting to learn more about Four's past, amp up the hate for Eric even more, get to know some of the other players in the game (like Max), and to see a lot of what he was up to while Tris was going through initiation. Four is a fun read, and a good addition to the Divergent trilogy.
It did seem to take a long time for Four to get his own voice. Maybe it's
Show More
the first person, present tense that Roth likes to write in, but it took a very long time for him to really develop a personality. Although, I felt the same about Tris when reading Divergent.It surprised me a bit to learn that Roth had originally planned for Four to be her protagonist of her trilogy. So I guess this is an exploration (and a bit of a tease) of what if that had been.
All in all, it was really interesting to learn more about Four's past, amp up the hate for Eric even more, get to know some of the other players in the game (like Max), and to see a lot of what he was up to while Tris was going through initiation. Four is a fun read, and a good addition to the Divergent trilogy.
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LibraryThing member engpunk77
If you enjoyed the Divergent trilogy, this is an excellent companion novel. It is the same story (first half of Divergent) as narrated by Tobias, but it's not redundant in any way. A bit is familiar overlap, but most scenes are fresh insights into Tobias's past and activity behind the Tris's scope.
LibraryThing member allyofthedawn
Written much better than the books from Tris's point of view, this collection shows great insight into how Tobias's mind works, and the problems he faced during and before the original series.
LibraryThing member simple_kind
I wasn't a true fan of Four while reading the Divergent trilogy. I think I just didn't understand him since I only knew him by what Tris thought of him. Even though she loved him I saw him as this tortured boy who grew hard because of his father.
After reading this I realized him some ways I was
After reading this I realized him some ways I was
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right but there was so much more to him. Yes he has his issues (who doesn't) but his biggest drive is that he wants to find someone to love him - to choose him. Show Less
LibraryThing member lkmuir
Told from Tobias's point of view, Four shares details of his transfer from Abnegation to Dauntless, his intiation, and claiming his place in the Dauntless hierarchy.
LibraryThing member AliceaP
In my review of Allegiant, I mentioned that at first I didn't feel Roth had a grasp on Tobias's 'voice'. I didn't feel that way after reading Four. Would it surprise you to learn that Divergent originally started out from his point of view? Four is a collection of stories which helps to explain
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just how Tobias Eaton transformed from a lanky teenager in Abnegation grays that no one noticed to a Dauntless front runner who couldn't be forgotten. I, for one, really enjoyed this quick read (clearly as I finished it in one day) and I felt like it delivered exactly what Roth promised: a glimpse into the mind of a character that kept all his cards close to his vest. I especially liked seeing the scenes from Divergent with Tris through his eyes. If you're a fan of the Divergent series, I think this is worth picking up and giving a whirl. Show Less
LibraryThing member Narilka
Four is a collection of short stories and scene snippets set in the world of Divergent. They are all told from Tobias "Four" Eaton's point of view. The first story, The Transfer, tells us about Tobias' Choosing day and how he came to be a member of Dauntless. The second story, The Initiate, gives
Each story was interesting. I enjoyed Four's point of view and it was nice to go back to the Divergent world. This is a great read for fans of the series and anyone who wanted more insight into the character of Four.
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us the background on how Four choose his name and, like the title says, his initiation period into Dauntless. The third story, The Son, is about Four's first few weeks as a Dauntless member as he learns his place in their hierarchy and shows the beginning of events that unfold in Divergent. The fourth story, The Traitor, is set after Triss has become an initiate and further sets up events in Divergent. At the end there are three scene snippets of events that happen in Divergent told instead from Four's perspective.Each story was interesting. I enjoyed Four's point of view and it was nice to go back to the Divergent world. This is a great read for fans of the series and anyone who wanted more insight into the character of Four.
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Awards
Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — 2017)
Buckeye Children's & Teen Book Award (Nominee — Teen — 2016)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2014
Physical description
8.25 inches
ISBN
0062345214 / 9780062345219