Allegiant is a dystopian novel for young adults written by American author Veronica Roth. It was published by HarperCollins in October 2013. The book finishes the Divergent trilogy, which Roth began with her first novel, Divergent, in 2011. The story is told from the viewpoints of Beatrice (also called Tris) and Tobias (also called Four). After the events of the previous book, they travel beyond the city’s limits to learn what lies outside.
In the United Kingdom, Allegiant was released at the same time by Katherine Tegen Books and HarperCollins Children's Books. Four weeks before the book’s release, an online companion book titled The World of Divergent: The Path to Allegiant was made available for free. The novel was planned to become a two-part movie. The first part, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, was released on March 18, 2016. The second part, called Ascendant, was originally set for June 2017 but was changed into a TV movie. This plan was later canceled.
Plot
In a future society, Chicago is divided into five groups called factions. Each group has strict rules about how people should act and think. This system prevents individuals from making their own choices, which could cause wars or other dangers. People who do not meet the requirements of their faction are called Factionless. They are treated unfairly and seen as a burden to society.
After discovering the truth about their city, Evelyn Johnson-Eaton becomes Chicago's leader. She requires all factions to treat the Factionless equally. Beatrice "Tris" Prior, Christina, and Cara admit their role in a rebellion and are forgiven. Tris learns from Tobias "Four" Eaton about a group called the Allegiant, who aim to restore the faction system. A conflict between factions and the Factionless results in deaths, including Evelyn's assistant, Edward. Tris is invited to meet the Allegiant leaders, Cara and Johanna Reyes, who plan to overthrow Evelyn and send messengers outside the city. Tris joins a group including Tobias, Cara, Christina, Peter Hayes, Uriah Pedrad, and Tori Wu. She asks Tobias to save her brother, Caleb, from execution. Tori is killed by the Factionless, and the group escapes to meet Tobias's mentor, Amar, who was believed to be dead. They are taken to the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, led by David.
David explains that Chicago is isolated from the world in an experiment by the U.S. government. The goal was to create genetically improved people called Divergents from those with damaged genes, which caused the "Purity War." David gives Tris her mother, Natalie's, journal, which describes Natalie's life before Chicago. Natalie was a refugee from Milwaukee who helped rescue people, including Amar and Tori's brother, George. Tobias learns he is not a true Divergent and joins a group fighting against the Bureau. Tris is unsure about the plan but feels jealous of another member, Nita. A Bureau worker named Matthew helps Nita access a weapon room and causes an explosion that injures Uriah. Tris stops Nita by taking David hostage and arrests her.
Tris is chosen as a council member and discovers the Bureau gave Erudite serums that controlled the Dauntless during an attack on Abnegation. Security footage shows Marcus Eaton, who was exiled by Evelyn, is working with Johanna to steal weapons from the Factionless. Evelyn plans to release a deadly serum to stop them. Tris learns David wants to erase people's memories to protect his experiment. She plans to release the memory serum at the Bureau while Tobias, Christina, and Peter return to Chicago with antidotes for Christina and Uriah's families.
Tobias plans to give his mother a memory serum to help her forget the past and stop the war. Evelyn agrees to peace, exiles herself for two years, and Marcus promises never to lead Chicago again. Tobias gives the serum to Peter, who starts a new life. Caleb volunteers to expose the serum but is replaced by Tris. She stops the deadly serum but is shot by David and dies, seeing visions of her mother. Tobias, Christina, and Peter return to the Bureau and learn of Tris's death. Tobias is deeply sad and nearly drinks the memory serum until Christina stops him. Uriah's brother, Ezekiel "Zeke," and his mother, Hana, are with Uriah as his life support is turned off.
Two-and-a-half years later, Chicago is reopened and being rebuilt. People live together without focusing on genetic purity. Tobias, now a council member under Johanna, welcomes Evelyn back from exile. To celebrate Choosing Day, Tobias, Christina, Caleb, Zeke, Shauna, Cara, and Matthew ride a zip line from the Hancock Building. Tobias scatters Tris's ashes and accepts her sacrifice.
Background
On July 18, 2013, during a panel at the San Diego Comic-Con for the movie Divergent, Roth shared that the book Allegiant is told from the perspectives of both Tris and Four. She explained, "I tried many times to write Allegiant only from Tris’s point of view, but it didn’t work. Her perspective, or how she sees things, was too limited for the story I wanted to tell. I wanted to do two things: first, let two characters experience different events, and second, let them react differently to the same events. This would help me—and eventually the reader—understand the full story and the full picture."
She added, "I have said before that I have always seen Four as an important character who helps move the story forward, especially as the series continues. He was the clear choice for the second point of view, though I tried other options as well. Exploring his choices and his ideas about the world was very interesting to me."
Roth also said she did not choose titles ending with "-ent" for all three books. She explained, "I did not consider other title ideas. It was always Allegiant." She defined the word Allegiant as "someone who is loyal or faithful to a particular cause or person."
The World of Divergent: The Path to Allegiant
The World of Divergent: The Path to Allegiant is a free e-book written by Roth and published by HarperCollins on September 24, 2013. It was released four weeks before the book Allegiant came out and was meant to go along with the Divergent trilogy. Roth continues to write stories connected to the Divergent series, and this book helps explain the world of the series. It includes detailed information about the Factions and how they began, ideas that inspired the trilogy, a quiz about the Factions, and answers from Roth about the books. The e-book also includes ten short previews from Allegiant.
Critical reception
In a review for Entertainment Weekly, Hillary Busis gave the novel a B+ grade. She wrote that readers who have already enjoyed the story of Roth's world will like the book's complex plot, which explains more about the series' prefabricated society, and the modest yet intense love scenes between Tris and Tobias. Publishers Weekly noted that the book uses alternating viewpoints, which can be confusing at times because the first-person stories of Tris and Tobias are very similar. However, readers who have followed the story of the five factions closely, especially the Dauntless characters who became popular in the previous book, will find this final book engaging until the final battle that causes disagreement is resolved.
Film adaptations
On December 16, 2013, Summit Entertainment said the movie version of Allegiant would come out on March 18, 2016. On April 11, 2014, Lionsgate announced the movie would be split into two films named The Divergent Series: Allegiant and The Divergent Series: Ascendant. On July 9, 2014, Lionsgate hired Noah Oppenheim to write the screenplay for the first part. Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Naomi Watts will play the same characters again. On December 5, 2014, it was announced that Robert Schwentke, who directed The Divergent Series: Insurgent, would return to direct Allegiant. Main filming for The Divergent Series: Allegiant began in Atlanta on May 18, 2015. The movie received mostly negative reviews from critics and did not do well at the movies, making only $179 million worldwide, but it cost $142 million to make.
Ascendant was planned to be released on June 9, 2017. After Allegiant did not perform well at the box office, it was decided to make it as a TV movie, followed by a TV show based on it. However, in February 2017, after it was announced that the fourth film would be a TV project, Woodley left her main role in the project.
In December 2018, both the TV movie and the TV show were canceled.