Veronica Roth saw #Divergent and....

Veronica Roth saw Divergent and....

So, I Saw the Divergent Movie…!

A few weeks ago I packed up a suitcase and flew to LA and bought some Milk Duds and watched the Divergent movie.

You know. As one does. (?!!)

It’s hard to prepare yourself for an experience like that, watching something that once existed only in your brain re-created on such a large scale. Every so often, as I was watching, I would flash back to this image of myself in pajama pants with really gross hair typing away on my computer, and then juxtapose it over the gorgeous shot of the Sears Tower or Navy Pier or the Abnegation sector on this big screen in front of me, and it was so ridiculously awesome and surreal I just wanted to laugh and cry all at once.

As usual, I don’t want to spoil anything for you. I’ll keep my comments vague and brief so that you can enter the movie with relatively clean slates. But I will tell you…

…drumroll, please…

I loved it.

I was completely absorbed by it. Even though I am so familiar with this story, I clearly remember grabbing the arms of my chair when Tris runs to catch the train after the Choosing Ceremony because I was nervous that she wouldn’t make it. (And then I thought to myself…YOU WROTE THE STORY, VERONICA.) It was beautifully shot—Chicago is such a gorgeous city, and to see it transformed into this futuristic wasteland was incredibly cool—and suspenseful, and the cast did a wonderful job. If I start calling people out specifically I’m just going to gush about everyone, but since Tris is very much the anchor of the series, and Four is of particular interest to many of you, I feel like I should say that Shailene Woodley as Tris and Theo James as Four are everything I hoped for (or maybe more than I dared to hope for). And we were so lucky to have Neil Burger driving this—his vision of the world, the amazing details and subtleties of it, his understanding of the story, and how seriously he took every part of it…I mean, you can tell. You can see it everywhere.

I was nervous to see it, as I think any author whose book is being adapted for the screen would be, but I remember remarking when I first went to set that everyone involved with the movie seemed so thoughtful about the story they were helping to build, and I feel like the final product reflects that. I can’t wait for you guys to see it on March 21st! I also can’t wait to see it again!