Release Date: August 2nd, 2011 by HarperCollins Children's Books
Pages: 441 Pages
Source: Library Copy
Ninety-five days, and then I’ll be safe.Delirium has 441 pages, but I finished it all in just a few hours. That should prove how powerful it is. But the funny thing is: I hadn't expect for this book to be this good. I had worried it might be cliche, but that wasn't the case at all. I ended up falling in love (bad pun if you've read the book) with Lauren Oliver's writing skills. The way she described things were so vivid and her characters were fantastic. Especially Hana, one of the greatest best friends I've encountered in all the YA books I've read.
I wonder whether the procedure will hurt.
I want to get it over with.
It’s hard to be patient.
It’s hard not to be afraid while I’m still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn’t touched me yet.
Still, I worry.
They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness.
The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don’t.
Nicole's Review:
Firstly, I want to say that the plot is amazing. It's frightening realistic, because I've heard of some people who go into a depression because of a bad break-up. And though I've never really experienced it, love is probably a dangerous thing. Kudos to Lauren Oliver who has thoughtfully created this world.
Secondly, Alex is a great guy. He's the love interest of the main character, Lena, and I found him as great as Four in Divergent, which is probably the highest compliment I can give to a fictional guy. Alex is officially on the list of "Top Fictional Love Interests" along with Four in Divergent and Cole/Jack in Everneath.
So, I guess I'll start my review with Lena and Alex's romance, since we're talking about Alex anyways. I, personally, thought the romance was perfect. Like utterly, completely perfect. I cannot express how sweet Alex was, and I cannot deny how perfect he is for Lena.
I think that paragraph pretty much sums up their relationship. But thinking back, I realize that Delirium pretty much has a lot of romance (though I think non-romance fans might like it too, depending on their tastes). The reason why I think that is because Delirium has a really good writing style, which captivates readers (sounds cheesy, I know, but it's true).
Not to mention, Lena is a good main character to read about. At times, she can sound slightly stuck-up (example: in the beginning, she kept reminding her friend Hana to not defy the goverment's rules), but she has a reason for it. She's one of those deeper characters with secrets too. Stick with her through the whole book and you can see her character growth of meeting Alex.
In Delirium, I feel like only Lena, Alex, and Hana are really taken time to be developed though. I don't know much about Lena's family (just that they believe strongly in their government). One improvement in this story I'd like to see is Rachel, Lena's sister. Rachel has this "detached" feel to her (it's probably the cure's fault), which almost everyone in Lena's world is like (again, because of the cure). However, I wish Rachel was on Lena's side, instead of being brainwashed by their government. Like maybe she could have been a secret sympathizer.
The other slight problem I had was with the world building. We were told a lot of stuff about this dystopian world but I'm still curious with some questions. Who declared love as a disease? How do they do know it's love that makes people go crazy? Some people don't go crazy for love, so why do all people act like that in Lena's world?
But nonetheless, I still enjoyed this book greatly.
At the end, I literally cried. You may think that sounds stupid, but what happens in the ending is a big twist. And you wouldn't even expect it. When the book finally ends on the last sentence, the sadness of what truly happened hits. I really sincerely felt tears in my eyes.
So yes, if me crying isn't a reason for you to read this book, I don't really know what is. This is a great book and deserves to be read.
*It's in the hall of fame!
The Summary:
The Good Points: excellent main characters (Alex, Lena), Hana is a really good character, realistic world, the ending (so sad, but it makes you feel something), Lauren Oliver's writing, very good beginning to hook you on the story
The Bad Points: provokes some questions about the world-building, would like to see more character development from Lena's family (both are minor problems)
Final Rank:
1 2 3 4 5
I'm usually really picky about books. The slightest problems (such as world-building or character development) usually bring down a book's ranking. For a book to be five stars for me, it has to be like absolutely perfect. So when I did notice the world-building/lack of character information, I pondered over a lot of things. Should I give it a 4, 4 and a half for that problem? In the end, I couldn't give it anything less than a 5 even though there were some world-building flaws. I really thought the ending bumped up the ranking, because the ending did make me want to cry. The courage was rare and spectacular. So I'm giving this book a five, because yes, I did love it, flaws and all.
I really liked Delirium as well, but I agree with you about the more development for Lena's family. I was satisfied with the world-building, loved the romance, am completely over the moon about the actual characters of Lena & Alex, but I wanted more about Lena's family. I haven't read anything past Delirium yet so I hope that comes into play in further books.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it! I preferred the characters to the world-building too, but in book two I feel things really came together. Really enjoyed this one and loved Pandemonium :)
ReplyDeleteKatja @ YA's the Word