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There was a time when Veronica Roth wanted to move away from the Divergent series. The author, who began the books when she was still in college, has written 10 novels since finishing the YA dystopian saga, and for a myriad of reasons, thought she was done with it for good. Now, though, we know that Roth is returning to the Divergent novels with a bang: the alt-reality duology beginning with The Sixth Faction.

And apparently, we have Taylor Swift to thank.

Roth told the story at BookCon 2026, where she was the subject of a jam-packed spotlight panel. During the discussion, Roth recounted her up-and-down relationship with her megahit YA novels, which she admits looking back on with a self-deprecating attitude. But that attitude changed after seeing another artist who started their much-beloved art at a very young age.

"The origin story of my revisiting the Divergent series had a lot to do with Taylor Swift," the Seek the Traitor's Son author explained. "I went to The Eras Tour, and I got emotional when she played her old music. [...] She's playing all these hits, and I just got emotional, because I was like, ‘What if you could be proud of your early work in this way? Put it on display, and embrace it, and show people how much you’ve grown by showing them the original stuff you did, and the newer stuff?’ Like, ‘Wow, what a feat.’ You know?"

"After that," she continued, "[My family and I] went on this vacation to Vermont, and I decided to listen to the Four audiobook [...] and I was surprised by it. I was like, 'This is funny! It's fun!' There's good moments in here; many things are handled very sensitively. I was just like, 'Ok, maybe I've been unfair. I don't know.' Sometimes something becomes bigger in your mind if you never look at it, which my therapist has told me a million times. And annoyingly, she's correct."

Well thanks, Taylor, from all the Divergent fans out here. And thanks, Veronica Roth's therapist.

The Sixth Faction hits shelves October 6.