Paperback features over fifty pages of bonus materials, including a sneak peek of Insurgent, an author Q&A, a discussion guide, a Divergent playlist, faction manifestos, and more! In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent).
On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives.
For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made.
Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen.
But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her. Veronica Roth is the New York Times bestselling author of Divergent, the first in a trilogy of dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance."
Dismas Okombo –
Munira’s writing in Highland Cactus is emotive, charged, and lyrically gentle. Throughout the nine stories -Highland Cactus is a collection of short stories-, I felt the author was sitting beside me, that she was an understanding old friend; one who’s had the courage to face the hard questions of life, one who’s had the strength to dance in the chaos, and now she was telling me those stories personally.
Where the theme demands gentle handling -themes such as trauma, search for life’s meaning and complicated friendships-, her style of narration is rooted in a kind understanding of the human condition. An understanding of the strength it takes to find love within us, an understanding of our search for direction. Here is an insight she offers in Mother, Wake Up that will eternally stay with me: ‘There are no maps to life, so you will sail and find direction by losing it all the time.’
Where the theme demands stern handling -themes such as rape, corruption, tribalism, oppression-, she has the courage to hit the mark. One of my favourite stories from the collection (and I know it will easily be your favourite too) is Room 15. In the story, you will get to experience Halima’s frustrations and disappointments as she tries to secure a visa. Just because she has a Muslim name. Halima’s mother is forced to travel over 700 km to come and verify Halima’s identity and even that is not enough! This story deeply agitates, I strongly recommend not to read it on an empty stomach. 😅
And to make your reading thoroughly enjoyable, Munira has interspersed the stories with poetry. Highland Cactus is definitely one of Kenyan’s contemporary classic reads.