[review] Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (2012)

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adventure, book, book review, dystopia, dystopian, family, friends, kidnapped, love, love story, novel, romance, survival, young adult

Pandemonium (2012)
by Lauren Oliver
Hardcover Edition
Publication Date: February 28th, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
buy a copy via Amazon.
synopsis via Goodreads.

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 bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

My Thoughts:
I loved Pandemonium–perhaps even more because I was one of the few who didn’t like Delirium very much. I am glad the flowery, beautiful writing was toned down to more manageable levels to allow room for action without dragging the pace down, which was my main problem with Delirium. The quotations in the beginning of Delirium’s chapters have disappeared (honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of them), instead chapters are separated into Then and Now. I was pleasantly surprised with the new format, it allowed a break between tense moments and to give the readers backstory without a deluge of flashbacks or the dreaded info-dump. Lena learns to be more independent: she learns to take initiative, and decide things for herself.

[review] Delirium by Lauren Oliver (2011)

Tags

adventure, book, book review, family, friends, humor, love, love story, romance

Delirium (2011)
by Lauren Oliver
Hardcover Edition
Publication Date: February 1, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
buy a copy via Amazon.
synopsis via 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 government 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.

My Thoughts:
It appears I am in the minority that didn’t fall head over heels for this book. I suspect I went in with high expectations and left with disappointment when the book didn’t deliver. I found it much like The Uglies series with the whole “cure” thing, but with less action and more lovey-dovey stuff. However, I know why so many people love this book: the prose is absolutely beautiful. I liked the idea of a society where love is a disease; it made me contemplate the purpose of this society and if the people are still human if they have no love. However, the story it was just so unbelievably predictable where everything was all rainbows and butterflies…until maybe the last twenty pages or so. Delirium is really a love story more so than a dystopian novel.

I needed more depth in the world, and the society to make me believe Lena’s world–because right now I think he dystopian society is just background information to build tension for the Lena’s love story. I should’ve played Rihanna’s “We Found Love” while reading this: “we found love in a hopeless place~”