The rules are very clear in Divergent: you don’t question the rules. Everyone is slotted neatly into five factions; these factions think, live and breath according to their categorization. And what happens if you can’t be put in the right place? Well, you’re already dead.

Divergent
Shailene Woodley and Zoe Kravitz in Divergent

Shailene Woodley, Kate Winslet and Theo James star in the dystopian vision of post-apocalyptic Chicago put forth by Veronica Roth in the book of the same name. Woodley plays Tris, an unpredictable civilian who the system don’t like due to her uncategorizable nature.

Watch the teaser trailer for Divergent

“The world of Divergent is giant. It’s a bookset, in the future.” – Woodley. When the proverbial faeces hit the fan, it’s James’ Four who comes to the rescue. Choosing Day – a scarier version of Harry Potter’s sorting day it would seem – sees Beatrice leave Abnegation and join Dauntless while her brother Caleb chooses Erudite. And so Tris is born.

“Divergents are not pure - they are ruining the system” - Winslet

Kate WinsletShailene Woodley
Kate Winslet and Shailene Woodley aren't friends in Divergent

When it turns out that Tris could be a problem for the system, she finds a deep dark secret lurking beneath this seemingly idyllic society. The books have been likened to other young-adult fiction like the Hunger Games trilogy, but they clearly share a likeness to classic works of sci-fi fiction, like George Orwell’s 1984 or Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Given the popularity of the book – it won Favorite book of 2011 in 2011's Goodreads Choice Awards and was number one in the Teens' Top Ten Vote, sponsored by YALSA – it looks like versions two and three – set to be released soon – will some to fruition in cinematic form, too.

Theo James and Shailene WoodleyTheo James and Shailene Woodley fight the system