This month it was my turn to host book club again, and I was so excited! We read Veronica Roth's "Divergent" as our novel, so I thought that throwing a themed party was the best idea in this case! I sent everyone an invitation in the mail ahead of time to the "Choosing Ceremony" (Book Club Meeting) at the "The Hub" (my house). The invitation included the link to take a quiz to determine what faction you belonged in as well as a link to faction appropriate clothing ideas. I told everyone to come dressed for their faction.
Upon arrival to my house for the Choosing Ceremony, guests were greeted by this table. I had 5 bowls with each of the 5 different substances for the factions as well as the manifestos printed out for the different options. I got all the info off of fan sites, so I didn't do any original creating of the templates, I just printed them. The guests dropped "blood" (red food coloring) into the bowl of their faction as the entrance of the book club meeting. It was a lot of fun!
This is my friend Anna and I love her picture the most because it looks like real blood coming out of her hand! You can also see the Erudite water turned red in this picture from MY blood. Of course I was wearing blue...I'm a nerd!
What is a book club without food, though right? So I used Google as well as ideas from mine and my own friend's minds to come up with some food options for each faction. Some of the food choices didn't make any sense unless you has read the entire trilogy, but luckily, I had.
Our food table started out with Amity. I provided some orchard fruit as well as the peace bread mentioned in the second book that keeps all Amity members feeling happy. We joked that it must meed it was laced with marijuana! BUT don't worry, mine was just laced with bananas. I served the amity food on the faction color of red.
Next was the Erudite food, which I served on the faction color of blue. I served brain food a/k/a "Smart Food" white cheddar popcorn in blue cups. I also set up a make your own fizzy drink option. The Erudite drink soda, which to the other factions is overly sweet and weird tasting because of the carbonation, but I thought Italian sodas would be fun. I just dropped blue food coloring into the soda water.
Next up? Candor! I served this on the faction color of white and because Candor always tell the truth and see things as black and white, I served Black and White chips and dip. You also learn in the later novels that the Candor love ice cream, so I served white vanilla ice cream with black truth serum (chocolate syrup) because every initiate has to take the truth serum and be questioned while under the influence to be welcomed into the faction.
For my Abnegation section of the table, I served cheese and crackers and chicken on grey. I got both of these ideas from things I read in the book about what Tris's family ate before she chose Dauntless. I also served little bottles of water that had a label on them that read "Abnegation's Selfless Sips."
When Tris sits to eat her first meal as a Dauntless initiate, she is surprised to see a hamburger as she has never eaten one before. So I served Dauntless Hamburgers with cheese and bacon on the faction color of black. Throughout all three novels, references are made to the Dauntless Chocolate Cake, so of course I HAD to serve that as well!
And of course, I couldn't forget the Factionless! I bagged dry fruit and threw it haphazardly at the table labeled "Factionles Grub" as well as provided a jar of peanut butter. Funny enough, no one wanted to to spoon any out and pass it along to the next person in the circle like they do in the book.
Really, it was quite the spread!!!
I had a lot of fun putting the party together. I couldn't have done it without my husband, though, who is always such a good sport and willing to help me achieve these crazy ideas of mine. We had book club outside, around the fire pit, talking about a post-apocalyptic society. It was fitting. It was perfect.
I'll tell you what, though, I decided. I wouldn't last. I'd die in an instant.
