Delirium, by Lauren Oliver
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 441 (ARC)
Reading Level: 14 and up
Enjoyment Level: Medium/High
~ Vilate
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 441 (ARC)
Reading Level: 14 and up
Enjoyment Level: Medium/High
In honor of Delirium's release, and the Lauren Oliver event this week at Blue Willow Bookshop, it's time to read and review the book. I enjoyed Before I Fall, and I really looked forward to Delirium. WARNING: spoilers may be contained in this review!
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.
I've classified this as literary fiction for teens. It definitely has the feel of literary fiction, which I don't normally like, but it has the twist of also being written for teens. Somehow, that balances out the pretense of lit fic somehow.
I'll try not to get into too much detail, since this book has just come out. I can say that I liked the characters in this quite a bit. I liked that Lena's transformation happened slowly. It happened naturally, with the seeds of ideas and love growing, instead of just springing up out of nowhere.
Lena's relationship with Alex worked for me, as did her relationship with her best friend, Hana. The characters meshed so well together, and it helped the pacing along - if they hadn't been so interesting, I might've taken much longer to read the book... The pacing jives with the pacing one might find in a literary fiction novel, so the characters saved me from being bored.
As much as I'm glad this is going to be a trilogy, I have to admit that I'm disappointed in the ending. I found it to be too fraught with drama. I realize that the ending is the impetus for the next two books, but it felt like the author forced Delirium to have this ending simply because it tied up the mentions of Romeo and Juliet. It could just as easily have gone a different way and still give the right punch to the storyline.
I'm looking forward to the rest of the series, because, despite the ending, I really did enjoy the story. Lena is a great character, full of fire, and I want to see where she goes from here.
Until next time, go read something!
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.
I've classified this as literary fiction for teens. It definitely has the feel of literary fiction, which I don't normally like, but it has the twist of also being written for teens. Somehow, that balances out the pretense of lit fic somehow.
I'll try not to get into too much detail, since this book has just come out. I can say that I liked the characters in this quite a bit. I liked that Lena's transformation happened slowly. It happened naturally, with the seeds of ideas and love growing, instead of just springing up out of nowhere.
Lena's relationship with Alex worked for me, as did her relationship with her best friend, Hana. The characters meshed so well together, and it helped the pacing along - if they hadn't been so interesting, I might've taken much longer to read the book... The pacing jives with the pacing one might find in a literary fiction novel, so the characters saved me from being bored.
As much as I'm glad this is going to be a trilogy, I have to admit that I'm disappointed in the ending. I found it to be too fraught with drama. I realize that the ending is the impetus for the next two books, but it felt like the author forced Delirium to have this ending simply because it tied up the mentions of Romeo and Juliet. It could just as easily have gone a different way and still give the right punch to the storyline.
I'm looking forward to the rest of the series, because, despite the ending, I really did enjoy the story. Lena is a great character, full of fire, and I want to see where she goes from here.
Until next time, go read something!
~ Vilate
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If by pretensious literature you mean obtuse text written in the present tense and working overly hard to be symbolic or wildly original, then I'm with you. But good literature is not that. It is carefully written prose with something important to tell and which connects with its intended readers. The works of Lewis Carroll and J.R.R. Tolkien come to mind as good examples.
ReplyDeletePlease visit my blog and leave a comment. I try to write the kind books you seem to like.
I love the pledge you have at the top right!