Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

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Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver

Release Date: February 1st, 2011 (Today! That's right! I'm posting day of release! I've finally done it!)
Publisher: Harper Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 440
Source: Received from Publisher via NetGalley (will buy as soon as possible though)
Series: Book One of Delirium Trilogy
Other Titles in the Series: Pandemonium (book #2 in 2012) and Requiem (book #3 in 2013)

Summary (goodreads.com): Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love - the deliria - blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.


My Review: *sour face* Gah! First off let me start off by saying I hate this book. It ended so wrong. IT WAS SO GOOD UNTIL IT ENDED! That’s all I will say about the ending, just that it was WRONG and I don’t approve and that I demand a do over.

Now let me tell you how much I love it. Seriously, other then that ending this is a grade A novel. It’s creepy, it’s romantic, it’s funny, and there’s action. What more can you ask for in a book? Oh maybe some kick ass characters? Delirium’s got those, too! Lena is one of those great characters that I love to see go through an emotional change. Usually it passes me by because I’m so caught up in the story aspect to really pay attention to how much a character really changes during the course of a novel. In the beginning Lena is like everyone else supposedly is, counting down the days until they are cured and safe from the disease that is love or Amor Deliria Nervosa. She’s brainwashed basically into believing that Love is what has Destroyed the world. Then she meets Alex (a totally awesome guy) who is the complete opposite of Lena. Everything changes after that, Lena’s look on life, her respect for the rules and even Lena herself. Sometimes I wondered about how Hana (Lena’s Best friend) felt about having to cover for Alex and Lena when they went off together. I’m sure she misses her best friend and wishes she was with her instead of Alex. I would feel a little used and angry when Lena’s all like “Hana's being great with this.“ But, what if she's not? What if she wishes she had a secret boyfriend instead. I mean Lena really met Alex because Hana decided to run to the labs that one day. Lena owes Hana more then I think she realizes. This becomes an even bigger thing later in the book. I honestly hope that this is addressed in the next book, I wonder if Lena really knows how good a friend Hana really is to her.

The concept itself of this book freaks me out though. A world without love is as ridiculous as a world without books to me. It took me a while to get used to the setting, to this dystopian world, I’m not used to reading about them and every time I do a little bit of them sticks to me. I find myself thinking about worlds without love and its just plain scary. All in all, I’m really glad I read this book. It was so good. I think everyone should read it.


2 comments:

Laina said...

Oh my gosh XD You crack me up :P

Belgie said...

Delirium is beautiful, heart breaking, mysterious which will draw the reader in. The main character, Lena lives in a world where love is seen as a terrible disease. It is seen as an infection that can be caught. Lena is obedient to what the goverment tells her and believes everything which is told to her. This all changes when she meets a boy named Alex. Lena learns what it is like to love and feels the pain. Risking her life many times just so she can be with him. When I was read the end of Delirium I was bursting in to tears. I just sat there wishing that somehow magically Lena and Alex could have somehow escaped the fence together and live a long, happy life filled with love.