Sunday, April 24, 2011

Delirium Review


Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Number of Pages: 441
Genre: Dystopian
 Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: February 1, 2011
My Edition: Hardback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Bought From: Amazon
Author's Website: laurenoliverbooks.com

Summary from Goodreads: 
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.

Review: 
Going into Delirium, I had such high expectations because I previously read and loved Lauren Oliver's debut book Before I Fall so much. Delirium exceeded my high expectations and had such an intriguing, unique dystopian story. The concept was so crazy to read about at first since I couldn't possibly imagine our society without love within it, which definitely made the book highly enjoyable and interesting to read. I've come to love reading books in the dystopian genre, and Delirium was one of the most original ones that I've ever read.


The beginning started off a little slow which made it a little hard for me to get into the story and relate to the characters. By the middle however, I was entirely engrossed and could not put the book down until I finished the heart-pumping, unexpected ending. My advice to you if you find yourself confused and bored at the beginning (like I was) is to continue reading because it gets a lot better and you will not regret finishing it. I also really enjoyed how much Lauren Oliver developed the back story like with the snippets from their law book in the beginning of each chapter.


The story starts off set in a time period where love aka amor deliria nervosa is considered a disease which is outlawed and surgically removed after you turn 18 years old. We meet the main character who is a senior about to turn graduate, turn 18, and undergo the surgery to rid her of the "disease" of love. Lena has never conversed with a boy, let alone touch one since the society doesn't allow the two genders to be around each other until they are fixed of the disease. When she meets an older boy from the Wild, her life totally turns around and changes everything she once wanted: a set future with a husband handpicked for her with a stable career that suits her. All throughout, I really enjoyed reading all about Lena and the insane society she lives in. The romance in the story was very easy to fall in love with which made the ending so powerful and sad, to the point where I had tears in my eyes when I finished.


Overall, Delirium was everything I was expecting and more with unexpected twists, amazing characters, and a great story. I absolutely recommend picking up a copy immediately if you love dystopian reads and if you don't, I recommend it anyway because it's just that good! I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel Pandemonium which will be coming out next year in 2012. The ending left off on such a cliffhanger, I am dying to know what happens next!




Rating:




1 comment:

  1. I completely agree that this book was a great read. It wasn't as "action packed" as some of the other dystopian books out there right now. But thats ok. It made it one of those.. curl up with a cup of hot cocoa, kinda books :) This was a great book to get teen girls started into that dystopian Genre. I worked at borders and had many girls who were wanting to get into sci fi fantasy, but stuck in romance. This I geel was a great combination of the two and they always came back loving it!

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