*I received a press invitation to the red carpet premier and screening. All thoughts are 100% honest and my own.

Divergent Red Carpet Premier #DivergentMOA

Have you heard of The Divergent Series?  They are a trilogy written by the amazing Veronica Roth.

One choice can transform you. Veronica Roth’s #1 New York Times bestselling debut is a gripping dystopian tale of electrifying choices, powerful consequences, unexpected romance, and a deeply flawed “perfect society.”

I read the first book, Divergent,  in less than 24 hours!  It was so good I just couldn’t put it down. Well, for those of you who are fans of the books, they’re making them into a movie and it comes out on March 21st!! I just so happened to have the opportunity to be part of a red carpet screening Wednesday night!

My friend, Theresa, and I showed up at Mall of America ready! I loved the book and could not wait to see it!  So what did I think of the movie?! Oh, you’ll have to wait! Sorry! I’ll be posting the review on the 21st when it comes out, so make sure to come back and check out my thoughts. Don’t worry though, I have two HUGE surprises to share with you!

We got to meet and interview both the author, Veronica Roth, and one of the stars, Ansel Elgort (plays Caleb in the movie)! *insert fangirl squeal here*

My friend, Cinny, over at Whirlwind of Surprises snapped a pic of me waiting on the red carpet. Can you tell I was excited?!  Due to time we were only allowed to ask one question each so I want to thank my friends over at EmmyReads and Thrify Jinxy for helping me out with their Q&A’s so you’d have a bit more!

Veronica was so sweet and very down to earth. She’s young too, early 20’s! She’s also very stylish. I didn’t get pics but she’s wearing super cute red shoes!  Here’s what I found out about her.

What was it like letting go of the story and characters you created, to let other people reimagine it?

I think the second the book comes out that starts happening because you guys will always see the story differently than I do. And if I can’t let go of that then I’ll just try and control everything that you think about it. So I think I was kind of practiced at it by the time they started making the movie. It was just another group of people who were going to interpret it as best they can. I tried to put it with people who respect and loved it.

Are any of the characters in your book based on people you know?

Not really. I find that if you try to base a character on a real person then you kind of limit that person too much because you’re trying to be to true to who they are then you’re getting confused. You can’t get the same complexity and depth.  At least I have problems with that. But my mom is a lot like Tris’ Mom. You know, kind of like really selfless and giving but with this back story, this bad ass back story.

I was wondering when you were that age (young teenage girls screaming in the background) what were some of either the books or the authors that you read and looked up to?

Well, Harry Potter. I was like the right age for all of those books. That was my fan girl thing. I also loved Lois Lowry and Madeline L’Engle.  I was starting to read adult sci-fi also. I really enjoyed Dune.

Did you know that she even makes a cameo appearance in the movie?  Watch for it!

 Ansel was also very sweet and surprisingly grounded. There were young girls all over screaming at the top of their lungs, “Ansel, we love you!” and he was totally able to block it out and continue with his interviews.  Here’s what I learned about him:

Have you read Allegiant (third book in the series) yet, if so what do you think?

I know that he regrets his decisions in the second book and the third book and is trying to get Tris’s forgiveness and then finally he does. I think it’s beautiful, its a great way to end the book and the series. *SPOILER* so we’ll stop with his answer there.

Do you have any funny stories about people mispronouncing your name?

Yes! People always call me Angel. One time someone called me Anvil. I don’t know how they got that from Ansel…Yeah, Antwan. It was good though in school because one time I was causing trouble and the security guard didn’t know my name. He thought my name was Antwan. So he told everyone that Antwan was causing trouble. So I didn’t get in trouble.

This last question came from some special girls that are students in a class that my cousin teaches: Do you think Shailene is cute even though she plays your sister in the movie?

I have to think she’s cute, a little bit cute, because in my next film I had to find her attractive. But, when I’m playing Caleb and she’s playing Beatrice, no I don’t think she’s cute. I’m literally in Caleb’s head. I mean that’s what you do as an actor, right? In the other movie I love her and I think she’s the hottest girl in the world. In real life, she’s like a sister to me and we’re just best friends.

I had a total *geek* moment after the premier! I tweeted the pic of the two of us to Ansel and he followed me on Twitter!

I had such an amazing time!  It’s a night I will definitely not forget!

I wanted to know what faction I’d be if I took the test and found this online test.

My results: You are Divergent- But Closest to Amity

I can totally see that 🙂

Here’s the trailer for the movie.  Make sure you don’t miss it!

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