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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Heteronormative
But sweet.
Kept me on the edge of my seat.
Good moral.
I wonder how the 2nt book will go considering the end of this one.
I do love me a Dystopian YA novel
But sweet.
Kept me on the edge of my seat.
Good moral.
I wonder how the 2nt book will go considering the end of this one.
I do love me a Dystopian YA novel
My rating: 5 Stars
I finished the book a couple of days ago, and went right into the sequel. The imagery in the book is amazing, and the storyline is well written and heartbreaking. Great book!
I finished the book a couple of days ago, and went right into the sequel. The imagery in the book is amazing, and the storyline is well written and heartbreaking. Great book!
This story is absolutely amazing. Can't wait for the sequel. 2012 can't come fast enough. Its hard to make me fall hard for a character or a love story. But Delirium definitely accomplished that.
Well it certainly ended like a Hollywood movie. Review to come.
So this book... I had a hard time getting into it at first, mainly because I didn't really like Lena very much. And then I realized that it's because she was a lot like me when I was younger. As Lena developed into a stronger character I really admired her strength. I loved Hana and thought she was a great counterpoint to Lena. And the story itself... wow. Once it got going, I had a hard time putting it down. I thought the idea of love as a disease was so interesting. Can't wait to start Pandemonium.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
I chose 4 stars because I was thoroughly engaged the entire time. It's a fun, edge-of-your-seat read. However, I'd say the world building was weaker than I'd have expected, and I would have liked to see a more political approach to this dystopia (which I'm hoping will be addressed in the next two books). It came out when I was a tween and definitely would have loved it then, so I'll round the score up.
Also, I tried listening to the audiobook and did about 10 minutes before I had to just return it. The narrator's voice fit in really well as a 17 year old girl. That being said, I just couldn't listen to the voice of a 17 year old girl for 8 hours.
Another issue I had (maybe gentle spoilers) was that this dystopia just didn't seem to make sense. I don't think a rationing of gasoline is the way the future would operate, for example. I'd have expected to see a more robust electrical grid in that case with public transit. It was weird to see a US that was several decades in the future, yet the only advancements society has made was focused around curing a "disease". I'm sure we will find out more about it in the next books, but since the readers know that curing love won't cure heart disease and diabetes, it would be important to see that scientists have cured those separately and just attribute it to the Cure. (Coca Cola still exists)
On top of that, I would have loved to know how LGBT+ is handled in this world. If love needs to be cured, what do they think about non-traditional love? It would be so cool to have that be explored. Again, maybe in the coming books.
I chose 4 stars because I was thoroughly engaged the entire time. It's a fun, edge-of-your-seat read. However, I'd say the world building was weaker than I'd have expected, and I would have liked to see a more political approach to this dystopia (which I'm hoping will be addressed in the next two books). It came out when I was a tween and definitely would have loved it then, so I'll round the score up.
Also, I tried listening to the audiobook and did about 10 minutes before I had to just return it. The narrator's voice fit in really well as a 17 year old girl. That being said, I just couldn't listen to the voice of a 17 year old girl for 8 hours.
Another issue I had (maybe gentle spoilers) was that this dystopia just didn't seem to make sense. I don't think a rationing of gasoline is the way the future would operate, for example. I'd have expected to see a more robust electrical grid in that case with public transit. It was weird to see a US that was several decades in the future, yet the only advancements society has made was focused around curing a "disease". I'm sure we will find out more about it in the next books, but since the readers know that curing love won't cure heart disease and diabetes, it would be important to see that scientists have cured those separately and just attribute it to the Cure. (Coca Cola still exists)
On top of that, I would have loved to know how LGBT+ is handled in this world. If love needs to be cured, what do they think about non-traditional love? It would be so cool to have that be explored. Again, maybe in the coming books.
Lena Holoway lives in world where love is not just forbidden, it is a feared and nearly eradicated disease. Once the government discovered that love is the root of all the evil, heartbreak, and conflict in the world, it didn't take long for science to discover a cure. Lena can't wait until she is old enough to be cured because she has lived her life haunted by the knowledge that the diseases is in her blood.
Lena has lived with her aunt and uncle since her father's death and her mother's suicide, and she feels security in the knowledge that she will soon be cured. Everything changes when she discovers an underground world of forbidden music and poetry...and then there's Alex. Lena doesn't have much experience with boys because uncured girls and boys are separated as much as possible. Lena discovers feelings and ideas as her relationship with Alex intensifies, and she begins to question the cure and everything about her world.
Oliver does a great job of addressing more than just romantic love. Though the relationship between Alex and Lena is the heart of the story, Oliver also explores parental love through Lena's memories of her mother which change from a source of despair to a source of strength. Lena's best friend Hannah is also a central character in the story, and Oliver deftly describes the power and strength of love between real friends. Additionally, it becomes obvious that brain surgery to remove your romantic drive removes most of your personality as well. Cureds lose most of the passions they had as children, and become compliant and somewhat lethargic. This may explain why it takes so long for anyone to catch on to Lena's growing "infection."
Delirium's greatest strength is in Lena's angst and emotion. It will appeal to Twilight fans and dystopia fans alike. (Grades 9 and up)
www.mybookishadventures.blogspot.com
Lena has lived with her aunt and uncle since her father's death and her mother's suicide, and she feels security in the knowledge that she will soon be cured. Everything changes when she discovers an underground world of forbidden music and poetry...and then there's Alex. Lena doesn't have much experience with boys because uncured girls and boys are separated as much as possible. Lena discovers feelings and ideas as her relationship with Alex intensifies, and she begins to question the cure and everything about her world.
Oliver does a great job of addressing more than just romantic love. Though the relationship between Alex and Lena is the heart of the story, Oliver also explores parental love through Lena's memories of her mother which change from a source of despair to a source of strength. Lena's best friend Hannah is also a central character in the story, and Oliver deftly describes the power and strength of love between real friends. Additionally, it becomes obvious that brain surgery to remove your romantic drive removes most of your personality as well. Cureds lose most of the passions they had as children, and become compliant and somewhat lethargic. This may explain why it takes so long for anyone to catch on to Lena's growing "infection."
Delirium's greatest strength is in Lena's angst and emotion. It will appeal to Twilight fans and dystopia fans alike. (Grades 9 and up)
www.mybookishadventures.blogspot.com
This book is like many others in it's genre. It suffers from the same formula -- we are given a girl, of average [insert personality traits here] who desperately wants to fit in by changing [insert vital part of humanity here, whether it be ability to show emotion or free will] about herself by some form of high-tech procedure that will fix it all. It is very much like Matched and Pretties in this way.
That said, the strengths here are in world building and prose. Oliver has clearly gone through great lengths to create a world that has all the little details. We are not only told of their version of the bible, The Book of Shh, but also given excerpts from medical texts, twisted interpretations of our own literature, etc.
This story also does require the reader to understand sacrifice. It doesn't throw away all the tension at the expense of happiness which is a strength its peers don't always have. I normally can't take series like this to their next conclusion but with this I might. It is a child of its genre but it is great version of the type of YA book that it is.
That said, the strengths here are in world building and prose. Oliver has clearly gone through great lengths to create a world that has all the little details. We are not only told of their version of the bible, The Book of Shh, but also given excerpts from medical texts, twisted interpretations of our own literature, etc.
This story also does require the reader to understand sacrifice. It doesn't throw away all the tension at the expense of happiness which is a strength its peers don't always have. I normally can't take series like this to their next conclusion but with this I might. It is a child of its genre but it is great version of the type of YA book that it is.
Fans of Divergent and Matched will enjoy this book. At first I thought it was more of a three star book, but I decided that I really enjoyed the aspect of love as it relates to friendship. The relationship between Lena and Hana helped turn this into a four for me.