READING : Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium by Lauren Oliver


Publication date:February 1st, 2011
Published by: HarperTeen
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4/5

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.

Everyone who knows me, knows very well that I was going crazy over Delirium.Totally crazy!There was an excerpt at the end of Before I Fall and after reading it,I couldn't get over how unique and original the story sounded.I just had to have it!

Well, while it definitely didn't disappoint, it wasn't what I expected,either.
We all have been acquainted with Oliver's writing in Before I Fall.It's very realistic and makes everyone and everything she describes believable.The world she's created is pretty freakish, nightmarish.A world without love does not, in any way, mean a world free of hurt.It means a world full of ignorance, indifference and hate. And that's what all the people in Portland and pretty much everyone around the US grew up in - the world of Delirium.They constantly had the "authorities" breathing down their necks, closely watching them 24/7, in case they dared express even a smidgeon of happiness and love towards one another.Lena, or Magdalena, as her mother named her, grew up in this world.She was content in it, settled in her own little programmed and miserable life, not knowing any better.But when she meets Alex, the veil of oblivion is lifted from her eyes and she opens her heart, ready to start learning how to love.
I liked Lena's and Alex's relationship.They had an obvious connection which was absolutely believable.However, Lena coming from the background that she did-her family was very cold and cruel-it may not seem believable to some people, just because of the ease with which it happened.The relationship itself was great,I just think that its grounds were a bit shaky.
What it really put me off about the book though, it's its ending.I so didn't want it to be yet another one of these melodramatic endings,Romeo&Juliet style.And in Romeo and Juliet's case, I completely understood the reason behind their actions.In Lena and Alex's case, I didn't.Nothing of what they chose to do in the end was justifiable, especially Alex's actions.And the note from Lena's POV in the end?It sounded very selfish to me and definitely not like Lena at all!
Overall Delirium, while being a very good book, it lacked a certain oomph , something that would make it stand out. Other than that, I recommend it to people who are looking for a good dystopian read.