Insurgent is the second novel in Veronica Roth's debut trilogy Divergent, preceded by Divergent and followed by Allegiant. It was published in May 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books, and continues the story of protagonist Tris Prior and her quest to reform a dystopian Chicago society ruled by the existence of personality factions.
The publication of the Divergent trilogy actually stemmed from Roth’s attempts to publish another of her novels, which she terms “The Manuscript.” After getting in contact with several agents, receiving rejections, and working with one agent on the first 50 pages, she realized that even if "The Manuscript" successfully went to print, it wasn’t the novel she wanted to debut with. So she began to work on Divergent, and once completed, she contacted her agent, who offered to represent the new project. Following editing and revision, HarperCollins made Roth and her agent a publishing offer, which was accepted. After the success of Divergent, Roth made plans to publish Insurgent.
Insurgent continues to explore the same themes as its predecessor: bravery, rebellion, friendship, romance, choices, and identity, to name a few. As Insurgent is concerned with a looming war in society, however, it takes on an even darker tone than Divergent. Roth has said that Tris is another embodiment of the physically and internally strong heroine that has been popular in dystopian fiction as of late.
Just like Divergent, Insurgent has received mainly positive reviews from critics. At times it has been called merely a bridge between the first book and the third book, but according to Publisher Weekly, its intricate plot and engaging writing make up for this. Insurgent won Favorite Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction and Author of 2012 in 2012's Goodreads Choice Awards, and was also nominated for Teen book of the year and Author of the year at the Children's Choice Book Awards.
A film adaptation by Summit Entertainment and directed by Robert Schwentke will be released in March 2015. The original director of Divergent, Neil Burger, did not return to direct this second movie.
