I’ve never really been into YA literature. It wasn't something I sought out when I was younger; my reading tastes ran more toward Kesey, Huxley, Salinger, Dickens and The Who. Looking back, I probably would have enjoyed a steady stream of teen vampires and dystopian stories. And I definitely would have loved seeing comic book heroes on the big screen in 3D, along with video games, smartphones, and search engines—oh, to be a millennial! My English education studies exposed me to a huge amount of Young Adult Lit, and it made me want to revisit _Catcher in the Rye_. There was just something really amateurish and fleeting about these shorter novels. It felt like the authors hadn't yet developed their writing skills. As a result, I’m not generally interested in movies based on them, unless they have a strong cast (_The Hunger Games_) or star someone I find particularly captivating—right now that’s Shailene Woodley. She just seems to possess so much talent; she has this genuine, quiet sense of self-awareness that makes you forget you're watching an actress. Her focus comes across as so unassuming and natural, it almost makes me wonder if she even realizes she's in a movie. I watched _The Fault in Our Stars_, The Spectacular Now and _Divergent_ one after another. _Divergent_ is being unfairly compared to _The Hunger Games_. It’s admittedly simplistic, essentially a surface-level comparison of social structures. Factions stand for different classes, institutions and jobs. The manipulation of the Dauntless by the Erudite functions as a military takeover. And rebellious teens become heroic Divergents. But if this manages to spark even a little interest in politics or social sciences among young people, I’m all for it—it's better than bare-chested werewolves and battles in the woods. Still, _Divergent_ wouldn’t be worth anything without Woodley’s impressive performance. Her inner strength combined with her vulnerability is compelling; she creates suspense because you’re always anticipating what she’ll do next. It makes me curious to see how she'll evolve as an actress over the years—as well as Kate Winslow, I imagine.

Source on TMDB