Divergent did well to set the story up, especially with the huge competition that the film had and has. But it excelled on most levels: it had great characters, a well-crafted future world, a bit of romance, a lot of intrigue and even more action. Yet Insurgent falls flat on most of these levels.

Throughout the story, we only want the answer to one question: what is the information that Jeanine is trying to hide? But it’s not until the very end that we find out, and until then there’s a lot of build up to, well, nothing. There is a lot more shooting and fighting and more simulations full of fear that give the film its dark edge, but what stands out more than these impacting scenes is the amount of times that Tris cries and her constant worry about Four.

The romance worked really well in Divergent because Four wasn’t a particularly likeable character, which made Tris’ romance with him subtle yet honest. The first film also worked because of how strong Tris’ character was, especially as she realised that she could control her fears. But fear takes over in Insurgent, and both of these qualities come crumbling down. Tris may be a 16-year-old girl who knows nothing but the care of her loving family up until her move to Dauntless, and this may be how most would react in a real-life situation, but this is a fantasy novel about strength, control, and standing up for what’s right. Insurgent really needed to see Tris step up and dealt with her situation full on, but, instead, it all gets too much for her and we have to see her constant melt downs instead of her huge acts of courage.

There is a big reveal at the end of the novel, which everything has building up towards, but by this point it’s easy to have either stopped caring or to have guessed it for yourself. For me, it was both. From the start of Divergent we’ve been craving to know why the society is the way it is and what’s beyond the walls, but if you’ve read any kind of dystopian novel lately, especially among the busy young adult crowd, then it’s all pretty obvious which, unfortunately, leaves the novel falling at a dead-end. Sure, Allegiance is going to be filled with more revelations, shocks, and, ultimately, some kind of revolution, but at this point it’s hard to feel excited about it.