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Monday, February 7, 2011

Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver



Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pub. Date: 2.1.2011
Genre: Dystopian YA
Keywords: Love, Disease, Control, Cure, Secrets, Family, Loss
Pages: 441
Description (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.



Lauren Oliver captured my bookish heart with BEFORE I FALL, and, with DELIRIUM, she's proven that she's more than a one hit wonder and fully capable of slipping from one genre to another without missing a beat.


There's something about Oliver's books that pulls me in and makes them near impossible to put down. The writing and plots are always fantastic, but I think it's the characters and their emotion that I find so alluring. There's so much passion in these books, particularly DELIRIUM. There's passion in the carnal sense - the romance is gorgeous - but Lena also possesses a passion for life and love that will speak to any reader.


In DELIRIUM, curing deliria, or love, isn't limited to just romantic love, it includes all love. The love between siblings, between a parent and child, and for life itself... What a terribly lonely world Lena is trapped in. There are times when I think  that it would be much easier to not deal with the pain of love, but, after exploring Lena's world, I don't think the benefits of escaping love would ever outweigh the costs. If nothing else, DELIRIUM reminds readers just how lucky they are to know and experience love... even with the heartbreak and pain that travels beside it.


Somewhat unsurprisingly, Oliver leaves us hanging at DELIRIUM's close and, at least in my case, guarantees that readers will be scrambling to get their hands on the next installment. 


Review copy provided by publisher.

6 comments:

  1. I can't wait to read Delirium! I have heard so many good things about it. Great Review!

    Mandi @ The Book Nymph

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  2. I loved Delirium, you can see my review here. I loved Before I Fall too. I cannot wait for the next book to come out!

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  3. Yes, yes, yes and yes! Love your review! Lauren Oliver blew me away once again... just when you thought she couldn't outdo herself, she does just that. I for one will be scrambling for book two!

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  4. You make a really good point that I hadn't thought much about - the appreciation you feel for the love-filled world we live in now. After reading DELIRIUM, there's no doubt that I felt incredibly grateful to live in the world I do. There may be pain and suffering, but there is love.

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  5. Love, love, love, LOVE Delirium! That ending was brutal...I must have Pandemonium now!! Awesome review :)

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  6. This was a fantastic read, glad you loved it to!

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