Delirium Trilogy by Lauren Oliver

Delirium

"Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. 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."

Lauren Oliver astonished readers with her stunning debut, Before I Fall. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called it "raw, emotional, and, at times, beautiful. An end as brave as it is heartbreaking." Her much-awaited second novel fulfills her promise as an exceptionally talented and versatile writer.

After reading a previous book by Lauren Oliver that I didn't care for, I was a bit worried going into this series, but after getting into the book I realized there was nothing to worry about.

            Delirium starts out kind of strange but I think it’s more for the fact that it’s introducing a different story line then what most of YA dystopian novels are about. It still is along the same story line as all the other books, Hunger Games, Divergent, Matched etc., but I enjoyed this one for being slightly different.

            The book is set up 64 years after they have found a cure for love. They believe love to be a dangerous disease and that once someone turns 18 they are forced by the Government to get the cure.   You can probably guess where this is going, and you’re probably right. The main character, Lena wants nothing more than to be cured to live a normal safe predictable life. Weeks before her scheduled date she meets Alex who introduces her to what life without being cured can be.

            The book did a pretty good job of keeping me reading. It would get a little slow then the author was quick to throw in something that picked up the pace again. It really picked up at the end as I was finding myself hoping that everything worked out and just as it seems to, a twist is throne in and the book ends.

            So overall I enjoyed the book, one of my more favorite YA dystopian series. I did get sick of Lena at times. She was always so paranoid and complained and worried too much, but it also fits her character so it works out.

Pandemonium

I'm pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, pushing aside thoughts of Alex, pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school, push, push, push, like Raven taught me to do. The old life is dead. But the old Lena is dead too. I buried her. I left her beyond a fence, behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times best seller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

I’m always going into the second books of a series expecting it to be not very good with a lot of wasted crap to build up the third and final books, however the way the first one ended I secretly hoped that this book would be different. For the most part it was. It actually had a story line and a plot. It brought out a new set of characters opened up more story lines and kept you guessing what was going to happen this time. I struggled at first with the jumping of time. One chapter would be in the past the next would be in the present but after a while it got easy to follow.

I liked that the author took Lena and developed her into a different person still a bit whinny at times, but stronger and more likeable. It shows how she grows from the struggles of learning to live and survive in the wilds, with loosing Alex, and going through different test from the Resistance building her up making her stronger.

I also liked how the book had more about the struggles of what the Resistance was fighting for not just to rebel against the government but fighting for the chance of freedom to live and love and good vs evil. It took each character and showed why it was important to them to fight and survive.

This book focused on building the resistance and had a lot more suspense and action then the first book. Like the first book, this book also ends on a major cliff hanger, so make sure to have the third book handy to read because you will want to jump right in.

Requiem

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has transformed. The nascent rebellion that was underway in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight. After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven. Pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels.

As Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain of the Wilds, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena and Hana's points of view. They live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

I feel this book touched more on the emotional side of things. The Lena Alex Julian love triangle begins. Lena and her relationship with her Mom. The determination of the characters struggling to survive and of course the loss of characters.  

I had high hopes for this book being that the first two books where really good. In ways the book didn't disappoint. It was very fast paced, didn't dwell too much on the love triangle but enough to have you picking a side and hoping in the end she will choose that person. I also liked how it took it back to Hana, Lena’s best friend from the first book, her point of view of what life was like after being cured the struggles she was dealing with and how eventually her and Lena’s paths crossed helping each other out.

The Author also put a lot of meaning into the book with a good moral of the story. She talks of taking down the walls being the point of the book. In a couple paragraphs she sums up what she was trying to get across and I like how it fits in today life style and not just the book. It states: “you do not know what will happen if you take down the walls; you cannot see through to the other side, don’t know whether it will bring freedom or ruin, resolution, or chaos. It might be paradise, or destruction. Take down the walls. Otherwise you must live closely in fear, building barricades against the unknown, saying prayers against the darkness, speaking verse of terror and tightness. Otherwise you may never know hell, but you will not find heaven either. You will not know fresh air and flying.” After reading that, the book gave me a whole different way perspective of the story.    

Now that being said I feel that despite giving a good moral of the story, the actual story wasn't finished. Just as resistance gets into the city and the fighting starts, the book ends. You don’t know what happened in the future, who won, was the struggling the loss, the fighting worth it in the end? What happened to some of the characters? It tells who Lena’s heart picks in the end, but did they find each other again? So many questions unanswered. Everything I can find says this is the final book in the series but secretly I’m hoping it’s not, even if just a short book explaining what happens comes out that would be nice. I guess I can take what was written and in my head decided what happens but that’s not fun. 

So overall a good series I really enjoyed. I listened to the first two books and read the third book, the listening was much better. The narrator did such a good job with the voices that it just wasn't the same when just reading it.