Genre: YA DystopianSeries: Delirium #1
Publication Date: Feb 1st 2011
Pages: 440
Book Source: HarperTeen & NetGalley
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:
WOW! I fell in love with Delirium upon reading the synopsis and I'm so glad I wasn't disappointed after turning the final page. I know some have found it a little slow to start but I have to say I found it 'unputdownable' ... Haunting, addictive, beautiful ... I inhaled it!
Portland, Maine, where love is a disease, amor deliria nervosa, and the cure is something akin to a lobotomy. Where society is made up of the cured and those under 18 yet to receive the cure, and then there's the invalids, those who refuse to conform, those who escape to the wilds. I loved the world-building but I would also have loved to know the catalyst dictating this incredible change in society. Now the story is not without discrepancies and implausibilities but surprisingly I was able to look past these and be completely transported.
The pace is fitting with Lena as narrator, as she moves from fearful to courageous, from conformist to questioning, to risk taking and outright rebellion, the pace ramps accordingly and I cheered her on. Lena and Hana's friendship has real ups and downs but the cornerstone of this novel is the blossoming love between Lena and Alex and it's oh so beautifully written. Oliver's prose is simple and complex, sad and uplifting, effortless and powerful but above all; beautiful.
"my heart is drumming in my chest so hard it aches, but it's the good kind of ache, like the feeling you get on the first real day of autum, when the air is crisp and the leaves are all flaring at the edges and the wind smells just vaguely of smoke - like the end and the beginning of something all at once."
"my heart is drumming in my chest so hard it aches, but it's the good kind of ache, like the feeling you get on the first real day of autum, when the air is crisp and the leaves are all flaring at the edges and the wind smells just vaguely of smoke - like the end and the beginning of something all at once."
And finally ... Waaah!!! Stamps feet and pouts; cliffhanger tantrum in progress. I commend Lauren Oliver for the breathtaking ending but one can only hold one's breath for so long and I loathe to be left hanging :(
I enjoyed Before I Fall but Delirium was so much more and I'll be waiting with bated breath for Pandemonium in 2012
This month on The Eclectic Reader 2 readers will win a copy of Delirium by Lauren Oliver or The Tudor Secret by C W Gortner, or Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning. Check this blog post for details. Open Internationally.
I loved Delirium. I'm glad that you enjoyed it too. Like you, I can't wait for Pandemonium. Lauren Oliver has become one of my favorite YA authors. She really knows how to write an emotionally gripping story.
ReplyDeleteFantastic review!
I am a huge Delirium lover,too. I couldn't stop my tears from falling in the end of it. It's beautifully written and has a breathtaking plot!
ReplyDeleteReading your blog makes me want to drop all the tecchnical Manauals I read and pick up a book.
ReplyDeleteLove the quote
"my heart is drumming in my chest so hard it aches, but it's the good kind of ache, like the feeling you get on the first real day of autum, when the air is crisp and the leaves are all flaring at the edges and the wind smells just vaguely of smoke - like the end and the beginning of something all at once."
Great Review
How gorgeous is Lauren Oliver's writing. Great review and I can't wait for the next installment either after that cliffhanger ending :)
ReplyDeleteThis was a GREAT book! Awesome review!
ReplyDeleteThe moment that I remember most while I read the book was when the main character reads the poem "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...". That was one of the poems that I love most and I truly felt like crying!
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to hear that it is as good as I imagine it to be
I am looking forward to reading this book, however, cliff-hanger? By the sound of it a big one. Like you I'm not a huge fan, maybe I'll wait a little while until the release of book 2 is a little closer.
ReplyDeleteWow this sounds like a great read, I loved your review. I've heard good things about this book.
ReplyDeleteGreat review. I can't wait to read Delirium!
ReplyDeleteThis one sounds wonderful and a winner for sure!! I'm aboard!
ReplyDeleteI lost my count for a great review of this book.
ReplyDeleteCant hardly wait to read my own copy