Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Narrator: Emma Galvin
Length: 11 hours, 12 minutes

Last week we tweeted out a few recommendations for some of the best audio books to help you get through your Hunger Games withdrawal and one of those books was Divergent, the first in a new dystopian series by Veronica Roth. This YA audio book is engrossing, action-packed and it’s an addictive, can’t-stop-listening-to-it kinda book.

Here’s the gist: The world as we know it was overtaken by greed, violence, ignorance, lies, and cowardice, causing a new society to emerge. Imagine a dark future Chicago in which society has been reorganized into five factions, each dedicated to upholding their single core value – selflessness, peacefulness, intelligence, courage, and honesty. Once a citizen turns 16, they’re forced to decide whether to stay with their parents in their home faction, or move on to a new faction—and once the decision is made, there’s no going back.

Divergent has everything that a great dystopian novel needs: a spirited hero (in this case a heroine), an unyielding government, love interests, survival, and suspense. The writing is captivating (especially impressive given Roth was only twenty-one when she wrote this book), Roth manages to maintain a gripping pace with twists and turns around every corner. A warning for parents with young children listening, the book has a surprising amount of violence.

The audio version of the book is excellent.  This is the first book that we’ve listened to with narration by Emma Galvin and we were very impressed. She captured Beatrice’s voice perfectly and made it very easy to distinguish between each of the different characters.

Ok, we’re done gushing about Divergent’s amazingness, so now you can go check it out. This is one audio book download that you’re not going to regret listening to! And once you’ve finished listening, head over to Facebook and take your own Divergent aptitude test to see faction you belong to.

And if you enjoy Divergent as much as we think you will, and you’re not on Hunger Games overload, check out some other great listens in the genre: