Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Review from the publisher:

Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.

My Thoughts:

There is something about a dystopian novel that really draws me in. I have never really read any dystopian novels until this past winter (Even growing up I somehow bypassed The Giver which was a common required read). The first ones I read were the Hunger Games series (which I will write about another time). I don’t know what makes me enjoy them so much, but I can tell you that there has not been one dystopian story I have read that I haven’t liked. The same goes for Delirium. Just from reading the description made me want this book. I would love to meet these authors to find out how they come up with these unique ideas. What is their thinking process like? How do you create the characters? Do you already know what the character will be like before you start writing? The list goes on and on.

Who would have thought to write a book all about love being a disease? I am a bit of a romantic and love the word “love” and the meaning behind it, what it feels like to love someone/something; so reading a book where love is bad really intrigued me. To see how the author would spin it and how a world like that could exist, and how someone could live in that world.

The two main characters Lena and Alex I really enjoyed. Lena at first kind of bugged me just because she was naïve and self-centered (to me). But, as the story continues you see Lena grow and mature. Alex he was a surprising character for me. A lot of things he believed in, who he was (or wasn’t) I wasn’t expecting when I read the book. I could feel the instant connection with Lena and Alex. The author did a good job building their relationship and trust towards each other. I could tell that Alex instantly liked Lena and was intrigued by her, but Lena was skeptical towards him.  

Without giving too much away I will tell you that if you don’t read the book for anything else, at least read it to read the ending. It is a very shocking ending and one I wasn’t expecting. It kind of ended abruptly, but definitely leaves room for a sequel (which thankfully there will be two more books in the series that I can’t wait to read!). I can’t stress enough how much I loved this book and highly HIGHLY recommend anyone looking for a good romance, dystopian novel, suspense story, character building, etc to pick up this book today. Trust me once you pick it up you won’t want to put it down.

Happy Reading!

Meg

P.S. There is another dystopian novel called Matched by Ally Condie that I am planning to read soon that I am equally excited to read as I was about Delirum! More to come!