During my exam time last semester I decided that it would be the perfect time to start a new book series. I also managed to watch an entire season of Reign, and somehow study for my exams and hand in my last assignments at the same time. The Delirium series is something that everyone and their pet pigeon has already spoken of, but I still managed to have no idea what the series was actually about. It wasn't until I was pawing over the books in my book store that I actually decided to read the blurb and see what the hype was really about! The premise sounded so cool and I instantly went home to blab to my housemate about it - the concept of finding a cure for love sounded so interesting and cool and I couldn't wait to see how Lauren Oliver thought it would affect society. If nothing else, the series is really great for getting you think about some cool concepts!
Here is the official synopsis of the series which does a better job explaining it than I could:
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 government 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.So basically the books are about a dystopian society where they have found the cure for love and anyone who exhibits symptoms of the love "disease" is shunned by society and either surgically altered or taken into custody. Protagonist Lena's mum was stricken with the disease and since then Lena has been terrified of it, living strictly by the rules outlined in their "bible" - The Book of Shhh. Pre-surgery, she is dealing with trying to keep her best friend Hana in line until the day they are both operated on and assigned life partners... That is, until she meets Alex - someone born into a world resisting the cure. Cue Aladdin's A Whole New World.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.
I'm going to break the review down by books but overall the series was another really great addition to the YA Dystopian genre. I'm really sad that the series was dropped by Fox as I think it has really great potential to be turned into a screen adaptation, but I haven't watched the pilot so I don't know how I feel about it at this moment. The books are a quick read and super emosh at times - my heart was broken and mended and soared and fell from chapter to chapter, and that's a great thing in a book series. I'd definitely recommend to anyone who is a fan of dystopian - it brings a very emotional side that is not often favoured over the segregation/omnipotent characteristics of the genre.
Also can we talk about the beautiful new covers for the books? I think that they suit the tone of the books perfectly and I love the shiny embellishments on them. I picked the book up in the store because it was beautiful before I actually realised what it was.
Book 1: Delirium
This is the first dystopian series I've read where I've enjoyed the first book less than the others. I have a tendency to get attached to the format of book one in a trilogy and then disliking the inevitable and logical digressions in the following books (see: The Hunger Games). That's not saying that this book wasn't good, but it seemed to drag on a lot and Lena's character is not very captivating in the beginning (I know this is intentional but it didn't make it any easier to read). Once the pace began to pick up it seemed that everything was happening too quickly, and then the cliffhanger!! Oh the cliffhanger!
This book focusses on Lena's life before her procedure - it follows her counting down her last days of childhood before she is analysed, paired and sent off to live the rest of her life in monotonous matrimony. The book feels very nostalgic; I'm not sure if this was just because it made me feel nostalgic about when I finished high school, but it definitely had me reminiscing about summers back home. Lena and Hana's friendship is really sweet and it felt really authentic in this world where everything is superficial and constructed. Hana at the end of the novel broke my heart - she was definitely my favourite character, along with little Grace!
I think this book did a really good job of making you think about how sad this world is - especially in the flashback's to Lena and her mother when they used to play secretly around the house. It had me thinking for a few days about what life would be like if we weren't allowed to love our friends or family, even our pets! The worst part was that it wasn't only romantic love that was taken away - platonic love was taken away too! It made me feel like I was taking all my freedom for granted which is exactly what a good dystopian does.
Last but not least, let's talk about Alex. I didn't really warm to Alex very much, mostly because our introduction to him was a whirlwind where we didn't get to learn much about him past his history with the invalids, but I did grow to love the Lena that Alex brought out. She began to think about her world and she made some bad decisions but they were exciting decisions. When Lena met Alex she gained some agency and started to think for herself. (Mild spoiler ahead) This is what made the ending bittersweet for me - I was sad about Alex because of what he stood for but I was kind of excited to see what Lena could do on her own two feet. Alex had rolled the snowball but Lena took control as it was hurtling down the hill.
I'd give this book 3/5 stars purely for the slow start but it is definitely worth the read. It was a great introduction into the world and the slow beginning was probably necessary. If you liked this book then I'm certain you'll like the next ones even more!
Book 2: Pandemonium
Pandemonium picked up the pace and managed to cover a lot more plot-wise (although I don't think it spanned over a much longer time frame). I really enjoyed this one as we got to see this new Lena who was strong and capable and realising that although she's taking her life into her own hands, there are still forces everywhere removing her agency. Every time she said "the old Lena is dead" I got quite excited because, let's face it, the old Lena was hella boring and this new one was brave and interesting.
This book was written in an odd now/then perspective which was difficult to understand at first. I didn't quite understand the jumps in location and I still don't really understand the point in which the two perspectives met. It was a great way to keep you reading though and I found myself powering through this book as both the "now" and the "then" storylines were action-packed, with almost every chapter ending with a little cliffhanger. It was much better paced this way, and I found it much easier to read, despite my original confusion.
I loved all of the new characters in the Wilds - because they hadn't had the procedure they were all much more packed with personality. The dynamic of a random assortment of people thrown together by circumstance kept the conversations flowing and exciting, and kept us on our toes. We, along with Lena, weren't sure who to trust or what to do in this strange new world. It was great and exciting and I love that there are some novellas delving into the back stories of these other characters (which I'm yet to read!).
I'm going to be honest - I didn't like Julian. You know that I didn't warm that much to Alex but I just didn't really like Julian at all. It was pretty understandable that Lena fell for him - he was there and she had all this freedom that she hadn't experienced to know how to deal with it. I should have liked Julian but like the Jacob Blacks before him, I don't think we're ever meant to move on from a characters's First Great Love. (SPOILER) I actually thought that we were going to get something different in this book - I was hoping that Alex really was dead and we were dealing with the real-life situations of learning to move on when relationships end. I was warming to Julian when Alex came back but as soon as he was back I realised there was no hope for him, made like Elsa and let it goooo.
This book was great compared to the first - all action-y with vibrant characters, which is a great contrast between the two (or three, or four, I lost count) groups living in conflict in this world. Pandemonium set up a lot of great plotlines to be resolved in Requiem, without being annoyingly ambiguous.
Book 3: Requiem
Ah, the third book in a trilogy. Normally, you are the bane of my existence; trying to take the story to new levels while leaving me with a supposedly fulfilling but ultimately disappointing ending. This book, however, blew all my expectations away! This was mostly due to the fact that we got my dear precious Hana back, and we even got a dual perspective between her and hardcore-Lena. I really loved this book as we were given a much more exhaustive understanding of the society as a whole.
This book split its focus between Lena, out in the Wilds when it's coming down to crunch time, and Hana, newly operated on and getting ready for her wedding in a few weeks. We can tell immediately that the two stories are going to converge at some point. I actually thought that we'd see this a little sooner in the story, and I also thought that their reunion would be a little more fulfilling than it was, but when I was reading it it seemed more realistic than what I had imagined it to be. I like to imagine that later on Lena and Hana manage to reverse the "cure" and take over the world side by side!
There were some absolutely heartbreaking moments in this book - I found myself attached to all the characters by now, so I was very emosh about anything that happened to my favourites. I even found myself getting emotionally invested in Alex/Lena (I'm sorry I'm a sucker for some love angst). I loved getting to read from Hana's perspective, although I would have loved to have heard her voice pre-procedure in the first book!
The ending of this book was very ambiguous but hopeful in a realistic way. It could have tied up all the ends but I like the way it left us to our ambitious interpretations. We know the fight isn't over but we've ended on a high. There was never going to be a perfect way to end the series, as there never is when you create these horrific worlds, so I felt like this was a natural compromise for an ending. Although it ended quickly, speedily, it didn't drag the moment out.
I really enjoyed this book, as I said it is the first ending to a dystopian trilogy that I've found satisfying, let alone loved! (*cough* Allegiant *cough*). If you like the genre then I'd definitely recommend this series as it is something different the formulaic others I've read!
XOXO
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