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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
⭐ 3.5/5
Lauren Oliver's Delirium presents a hauntingly beautiful world where love is considered a disease, carefully controlled and removed by the government. The premise is brilliant—imagine a society where Amor Deliria Nervosa is classified as a sickness, and where people undergo a procedure to “cure” them of their ability to love. However, while the world-building and writing are poetic, immersive, and thought-provoking, the slow pacing, overly descriptive narrative, and lack of action hold the book back. The final fifty pages save it from being a complete letdown, delivering an emotional gut punch that makes you want to pick up the sequel, even if the journey there wasn’t the smoothest.
📖 What to Expect:
✔️ Dystopian society where love is illegal
✔️ Slow burn, forbidden romance
✔️ Beautiful prose & poetic writing
✔️ Lots of internal monologues & world-building
✔️ A heartbreaking, cliffhanger ending
💡 What I Loved:
✨ A Brilliant Concept
- The idea that love is a disease (Amor Deliria Nervosa) and that people are forced to undergo a procedure to remove it? Genius.
- The government propaganda, The Book of Shhh, and the altered nursery rhymes & history books added depth to the world-building in a chilling, believable way.
📖 The Writing Is Stunningly Poetic
- Lauren Oliver’s prose is lyrical, immersive, and emotional.
- Even if the plot drags, her writing makes you feel everything—from the suffocating oppression of the society to the raw intensity of first love.
- Favorite quote: “Sometimes I feel like if you just watch things, just sit still and let the world exist in front of you—sometimes I swear that just for a second time freezes and the world pauses in its tilt. Just for a second. And if you somehow found a way to live in that second, then you would live forever.”
🔥 The Last 50 Pages—OMG.
- If the first 75% of the book was too slow, the last 25% makes up for it.
- The tension finally explodes, and the ending? Brutal. Emotional. A punch to the gut.
- That cliffhanger left me in PAIN.
💔 A Society That’s Too Close to Reality
While exaggerated, the themes of control, suppression of emotions, and erasing human connection hit hard.- The idea that indifference—not hate—is the opposite of love was a powerful message.
😬 What I Didn’t Love:
⏳ SLOW Pacing & Over-Description
- We get pages and pages of Lena describing streets, smells, and bicycles, but very little actual plot.
- It felt dragged out to fill a trilogy, when it easily could’ve been one book.
- Too much internal monologue, not enough action or rebellion.
🧍♀️ Lena Was… Kind of Bland
- I get that she’s supposed to be a product of her society—timid, rule-following, emotionally stunted.
- But she spends a lot of time whining or repeating herself (we GET IT, you’re 5'2", you don’t have to remind us 10 times).
- She doesn’t really do anything until the final act.
💔 The Romance—Pretty, but Too Safe
- Alex is great. He’s mysterious, rebellious, and charming (though sometimes too perfect).
- But their relationship felt rushed—one second Lena believes love is dangerous, and the next she’s willing to risk her life for Alex?
- I needed more buildup, more conflict between her beliefs and her feelings.
🚨 Unexplored Aspects of the World
- How did society get to this point? Why did people willingly accept the cure?
- Who is The Resistance? How do they operate?
- Why is The Cure only available at 18? (You’d think they’d want to get rid of love way earlier…)
📌 Favorite Quotes:
📖 “Love: a single word, a wispy thing, a word no bigger or longer than an edge of grass. And yet it still manages to haunt and consume us.”
📖 “I love you. Remember. They cannot take it.” (💔 Instant pain.)
📖 “The most dangerous sicknesses are those that make us believe we are well.”
🤔 Final Thoughts: A Mixed Bag, but an Intriguing Start
Would I recommend it? If you love slow, poetic dystopian books, then yes.
Would I reread it? Probably not—the writing is gorgeous, but the pacing was painful.
Will I continue the series? Yes, because the ending got me.
Delirium is a beautifully written book with an incredible concept, but it suffers from slow pacing, a lack of action, and underdeveloped world-building. The final act delivers emotional punches, and the cliffhanger will leave you desperate for the next book. While not a perfect dystopian, it raises interesting questions about love, control, and human emotion—making it worth a read if you have the patience for a slow burn. 💙
I would have said it was a really fantastic book, and one of the best dystopian novels I’ve read in a while... that is until until I got to the ending.... I feel cheated, I feel lied too, I did not spent hours of my life reading this book for that... just WHY , I’m sorry but that is in no way an acceptable ending! I will not stand for this nonsense ! I demand an alternate ending!
(Ok but Honestly I would definitely recommend this book, I think I’m just going through some ptsd at the moment)
(Ok but Honestly I would definitely recommend this book, I think I’m just going through some ptsd at the moment)
I can't write a book review right now as I am in shock, so please excuse me for a couple days...
24/05/12
Pros:
I loved Delirium.
I loved Lauren Oliver's graceful, flowing style of writing. I could read them all day.
I liked how I could relate to Lena.
I loved Alex.
I loved the quotations that began the book.
The characters were fully developed.
It's a series!!
Cons:
It starts off a little slow, takes awhile to get going.
Cliffhanger warning: you have to read the next book (unless you like not knowing what happens to a character), which is heartbreaking for us who don't live right next to a bookstore that sells anything other than textbooks.
Ummm, I think that's it.
Verdict:
Pros outweigh cons. Read this book.
24/05/12
Pros:
I loved Delirium.
I loved Lauren Oliver's graceful, flowing style of writing. I could read them all day.
I liked how I could relate to Lena.
I loved Alex.
I loved the quotations that began the book.
The characters were fully developed.
It's a series!!
Cons:
It starts off a little slow, takes awhile to get going.
Cliffhanger warning: you have to read the next book (unless you like not knowing what happens to a character), which is heartbreaking for us who don't live right next to a bookstore that sells anything other than textbooks.
Ummm, I think that's it.
Verdict:
Pros outweigh cons. Read this book.
I can't write a book review right now as I am in shock, so please excuse me for a couple days...
24/05/12
Pros:
I loved Delirium.
I loved Lauren Oliver's graceful, flowing style of writing. I could read it all day.
I liked how I could relate to Lena.
I loved Alex.
I loved the quotations that began the book.
The characters were fully developed.
It's a series!!
Cons:
It starts off a little slow, takes awhile to get going.
Cliffhanger warning: you have to read the next book (unless you like not knowing what happens to a character), which is heartbreaking for us who don't live right next to a bookstore that sells anything other than textbooks.
Ummm, I think that's it.
Verdict:
Pros outweigh cons. Read this book.
24/05/12
Pros:
I loved Delirium.
I loved Lauren Oliver's graceful, flowing style of writing. I could read it all day.
I liked how I could relate to Lena.
I loved Alex.
I loved the quotations that began the book.
The characters were fully developed.
It's a series!!
Cons:
It starts off a little slow, takes awhile to get going.
Cliffhanger warning: you have to read the next book (unless you like not knowing what happens to a character), which is heartbreaking for us who don't live right next to a bookstore that sells anything other than textbooks.
Ummm, I think that's it.
Verdict:
Pros outweigh cons. Read this book.
This was a re-read it was just as good as I remember it
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes