Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Pages: 393
Genre: Romance, Science Fiction
Format: Paperback
Published by Hodder
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Lena Haloway is content in her safe, government-managed society. She feels (mostly) relaxed about the future in which her husband and career will be decided, and looks forward to turning 18, when she’ll be cured of deliria, a.k.a. love. She tries not to think about her mother’s suicide (her last words to Lena were a forbidden “I love you”) or the supposed “Invalid” community made up of the uncured just beyond her Portland, Maine, border. There’s no real point—she believes her government knows how to best protect its people, and should do so at any cost. But 95 days before her cure, Lena meets Alex, a confident and mysterious young man who makes her heart flutter and her skin turn red-hot. As their romance blossoms, Lena begins to doubt the intentions of those in power, and fears that her world will turn gray should she submit to the procedure. In this powerful and beautifully written novel, Lauren Oliver, the bestselling author of Before I Fall, throws readers into a tightly controlled society where options don’t exist, and shows not only the lengths one will go for a chance at freedom, but also the true meaning of sacrifice. --Jessica Schein

Delirium is the kind of book that plays with your mind long after you've put it down. It's a very emotional and chilling tale that puts you right in Lena, the main character's, mind. It's somehow becomes an amazing addition to the YA dystopian trend while remaining different at the same time. This isn't an extremely action-riddled story nor are there aggressive science fiction additions to this dystopian world. It's actually a romance. And an ridiculously well-written one at that.

I absolutely gobbled this book up, immediately immersing myself in Lena's life because she's just so darn likeable. There's nothing remarkably special about this girl other than her curiosity and I feel that most readers would actually relate to her. Everything she does is believable and I think that's what sucks you in. She isn't a kick-ass fighter or a tough chick of any kind, she's simply Lena. She's very easy to get wrapped up in. And Alex, oh Alex! He's mysterious in a non-hokey way and just so darn understanding of Lena's reluctance to break from the status quo. Get excited, because that's exactly what she does in this book!

The plot really picks up in the last third of this book. I only put the book down for the necessary breaks that human beings need and devoured the ending. The very end of this book is an amazing cliffhanger of the worst kind! Gah! This means that I'll have to pick up Pandemonium, the second book when I can.

Lauren Oliver is just a simply amazing author. The plot line is somehow this perfect medium of complexity and simplicity and her writing is just beautiful. There is this sense of a quiet before a storm. I would seriously recommend this book to any reader, especially someone who is an avid YA Contemporary reader looking to dabble in some dystopian fiction.