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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
rule one: don't listen to your government about how you feel?
The book cover description does not do this novel justice. Yes, this book is set in a future, where at age 18, all people receive a "cure" whereby they cannot be inflicted with the disease of "love". However, it is not a sappy, teen romance that espouses the embellished reactions to a first relationship. Lauren Oliver delivers a fascinating story that presents the tragic life of Lena, a lonely and tortured young woman, who, at 2 months before the cure, begins to wonder if her society is correct after all. Having grown up under the shadow of a terrible family reputation, she is at the mercy of her aunt and uncle and regulators who watch her every move. When her best friend, Hana, and her new friend, Alex, expose her to the possiblities of existence without the cure and beyond the border into "The Wilds", she transforms into a brave woman who is willing to risk everything. I loved this book.
I think the whole Dystopia thing is being a bit overdone (as are vampires and fairy worlds and elves, etc AND series that go on and on) but I read about this book in a magazine and I was intrigued. A world where love is considered a disease and they operate on you at age 18 so you can no longer feel love (or, really, any emotion)? I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the book, it was very well written and the characters were darn believable. I am excited read the next one, I just hope she does not choose to drag it on forever. 2-3 books are plenty to tell a story.
FYI, this would get an R rating if it were a movie just because it has the F word twice. Nothing else in there is even remotely PG-13. Not sure why she had to throw that in, and both on the same page. I got the point the first time.
FYI, this would get an R rating if it were a movie just because it has the F word twice. Nothing else in there is even remotely PG-13. Not sure why she had to throw that in, and both on the same page. I got the point the first time.
This book kind of disturbed me at first. The propaganda at the beginning on the chapters. The very apparent brain washing of all of the adults. But it grew on me, the more I read it. I really started to wonder what it would be like to think of love as a disease and I began to enjoy the weird, strange propaganda that greeted me at nearly every chapter.
I had a sense of foreboding the more I read though, as I knew bad things would happen. But in the end I was okay with the progression, especially knowing it would be a trilogy and knowing the story didn't really end there. I'm interested in seeing how the story progresses!
I had a sense of foreboding the more I read though, as I knew bad things would happen. But in the end I was okay with the progression, especially knowing it would be a trilogy and knowing the story didn't really end there. I'm interested in seeing how the story progresses!
I probably should have known better by the description of this, that this would be far less in the dystopian world-building and far more in the romance. It sounded interesting--a society that lobotomizes emotions ant the age of 18 because love causes too much chaos, but instead it's a cheesy teen romance with some dystopian flavor thrown in.
The biggest let-down was just how little Oliver bothers developing and showing Lena's world. She relies pretty heavily on tropes of the genre rather than building things herself, and as a result her Portland, Maine of the future is so bland.
I enjoyed how things turned out eventually, and was pretty happy with the bleak ending. I hadn't realized this is slated as a trilogy, however (I guess it's really the in thing now to do dystopia trilogies), which takes away some of that. I might pick up the sequels, but right now I far prefer the ending of this volume. Either way, I'll be paying more attention to the reviews on anything else in this series.
The biggest let-down was just how little Oliver bothers developing and showing Lena's world. She relies pretty heavily on tropes of the genre rather than building things herself, and as a result her Portland, Maine of the future is so bland.
I enjoyed how things turned out eventually, and was pretty happy with the bleak ending. I hadn't realized this is slated as a trilogy, however (I guess it's really the in thing now to do dystopia trilogies), which takes away some of that. I might pick up the sequels, but right now I far prefer the ending of this volume. Either way, I'll be paying more attention to the reviews on anything else in this series.
I wish I would have waited until the entire series was out, because I'm literally biting my nails waiting to find out what happens next! I stayed up late two nights to finish this book because I could not put it down. The premise of the book is that love is a fatal disease that must be eradicated. Children are segregated until they turn 18, at which point they get "the cure" (sounds like a lobotomy) and are matched up with a partner and told how many children to have. Lena, who considers herself plain, was excited to get the cure and be paired up until she meets Alex, who changes everything for her. I don't even know what to say about it... It's well-written, very powerful, yet so realistic (strange to say about a dystopian novel!) and compelling. Oliver creates not only a dystopian not-too-distant future, she creates a history for this society through textbooks and pamphlets, which we get a quote from at the beginning of each chapter. It's interesting to see how elements from our society are twisted in the new world, where love is considered a disease.
Originally read March 15, 2011.
"Love, the deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't. But that isn't it, exactly. … Love: It will kill you and save you, both." I'm getting ready to read the second book of the series and needed to refresh my memory. It's been a year and a half since I read it originally, but it was almost like a new book, which I mean in the best way. I kind of remembered the story and how it ended, but reading it was just like it was new. Oliver's language and word choice are perfect. Everything is so beautiful and suspenseful without the reader really realizing it. She has a unique way of describing love of all kinds.
Re-read September 13, 2012.
Originally read March 15, 2011.
"Love, the deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't. But that isn't it, exactly. … Love: It will kill you and save you, both." I'm getting ready to read the second book of the series and needed to refresh my memory. It's been a year and a half since I read it originally, but it was almost like a new book, which I mean in the best way. I kind of remembered the story and how it ended, but reading it was just like it was new. Oliver's language and word choice are perfect. Everything is so beautiful and suspenseful without the reader really realizing it. She has a unique way of describing love of all kinds.
Re-read September 13, 2012.
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow, this book is amazing! I love the main character. Their world is without love and before reading this book I never really stopped and thought about a loveless world and all the impacts it would have on many areas of our lives. Such a fast-paced great read!
I would rank this book as one of the best I have ever read. The first several chapters dragged on for me, but they provide necessary background information for the remainder of the novel. However, the rest of the story was amazing and I absolutely loved it! I find it hard for a book to make me feel so many emotions, but Delirium had me feeling: fear, hope, love, madness, anger, etc. The ending was foreshadowed a couple of times throughout the story. It does end up being that tragic ending that you secretly wished that it wouldn't be. I was brought to tears. If you liked stories like The Giver or Uglies, then you will enjoy this one.