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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Pandemonium is the second book of the Delirium trilogy. If you read my blog at all, you know I read Delirium not long ago and loved it. So naturally I had to read Pandemonium! If you haven't read Delirium yet, I would suggest not reading this review, because I can't really avoid any spoilers for that book.
Pandemonium is a fantastic book. My expectations are never very high when it comes to the second book in a trilogy because they often seem like filler material between the first and last book. While I did feel like there were some moments like that here and there, overall I do think that Oliver did a good job at making this book stand on it's own. It had enough action and new plot elements that it felt like a strong second novel. The main premise of the novel is that Lena escapes into the Wilds and becomes a part of the resistance movement. While attending a DFA rally undercover, she is kidnapped and held in captivity along with a boy named Julian, who I will discuss later. I'm not going to say anymore because I don't want to reveal any spoilers :).
In Pandemonium, we are introduced to a whole host of new characters. Of course Lena is still our main character, but as she enters the Wilds and begins a new life, she meets many people. In addition to the Invalids, Lena meets Scavengers and members of the DFA (Deliria Free America). Lena deals with all three of these groups of people throughout the course of the book in various ways.
Out of all the new characters, Julian, the son of the founder of the DFA, was my favorite. Being the DFA founder's son, Julian was brainwashed his entire life. He is the leader of the youth movement for the DFA and believes in the DFA 100%. That is, until he meets Lena. Upon meeting Lena, Julian's entire world is turned upside down as he catches the deliria and begins to fall in love. It was fascinating to see Julian's transformation. He was blindly following his father because that's what he grew up with, but once he saw the truth for himself, things began to change. I think this mirrors a lot of situations in real life, where many children blindly follow their parents beliefs whether they are right or wrong, just because that's how they learned. Julian started out as a hard and cruel boy, but completely softened up by the end.
I know I said this in my Delirium review, but man do I love Lena. I thought she was kick-ass in Delirium, but she gets even better in this book. Lena is so amazingly tough. Even when things seem impossible, she just does not give up. She faces a ton of adversity in this book, and there are points when it looks as if all hope is lost, but she always comes out on top at the end. She is a force to be reckoned with. But even though she's tough, she's got a soft side as well. Lena can love, and that's what I love about her. She loves no matter what the stakes are, and I think that's beautiful. I can't wait to see what's in store for her in Requiem (the final book of the trilogy).
The ending of Pandemonium is INSANE. That's all I can say about it. I never in a million years saw it coming. Not to sound dramatic, but when I finished the story, it felt as if my heart had dropped out of my chest and I couldn't breathe. I cannot wait for Requiem to come out because I need to know what happens next. Not want, need.
Overall, I think Pandemonium was a great book. I'm sure Requiem will be fabulous, considering the giant cliffhanger we were left with at the end of Pandemonium. This is definitely one of the best dystopian trilogies I have ever read.
This review (and more!) can be found at Rachel Reads
Pandemonium is a fantastic book. My expectations are never very high when it comes to the second book in a trilogy because they often seem like filler material between the first and last book. While I did feel like there were some moments like that here and there, overall I do think that Oliver did a good job at making this book stand on it's own. It had enough action and new plot elements that it felt like a strong second novel. The main premise of the novel is that Lena escapes into the Wilds and becomes a part of the resistance movement. While attending a DFA rally undercover, she is kidnapped and held in captivity along with a boy named Julian, who I will discuss later. I'm not going to say anymore because I don't want to reveal any spoilers :).
In Pandemonium, we are introduced to a whole host of new characters. Of course Lena is still our main character, but as she enters the Wilds and begins a new life, she meets many people. In addition to the Invalids, Lena meets Scavengers and members of the DFA (Deliria Free America). Lena deals with all three of these groups of people throughout the course of the book in various ways.
Out of all the new characters, Julian, the son of the founder of the DFA, was my favorite. Being the DFA founder's son, Julian was brainwashed his entire life. He is the leader of the youth movement for the DFA and believes in the DFA 100%. That is, until he meets Lena. Upon meeting Lena, Julian's entire world is turned upside down as he catches the deliria and begins to fall in love. It was fascinating to see Julian's transformation. He was blindly following his father because that's what he grew up with, but once he saw the truth for himself, things began to change. I think this mirrors a lot of situations in real life, where many children blindly follow their parents beliefs whether they are right or wrong, just because that's how they learned. Julian started out as a hard and cruel boy, but completely softened up by the end.
I know I said this in my Delirium review, but man do I love Lena. I thought she was kick-ass in Delirium, but she gets even better in this book. Lena is so amazingly tough. Even when things seem impossible, she just does not give up. She faces a ton of adversity in this book, and there are points when it looks as if all hope is lost, but she always comes out on top at the end. She is a force to be reckoned with. But even though she's tough, she's got a soft side as well. Lena can love, and that's what I love about her. She loves no matter what the stakes are, and I think that's beautiful. I can't wait to see what's in store for her in Requiem (the final book of the trilogy).
The ending of Pandemonium is INSANE. That's all I can say about it. I never in a million years saw it coming. Not to sound dramatic, but when I finished the story, it felt as if my heart had dropped out of my chest and I couldn't breathe. I cannot wait for Requiem to come out because I need to know what happens next. Not want, need.
Overall, I think Pandemonium was a great book. I'm sure Requiem will be fabulous, considering the giant cliffhanger we were left with at the end of Pandemonium. This is definitely one of the best dystopian trilogies I have ever read.
This review (and more!) can be found at Rachel Reads
This bookseries is sooo good. I really love it so far and I'm going to read the third book as soon as possible. :) The end of this one was just WUAAAAH xD
A bit slow to start and kind of confusing but the end, holy crap, delirium broke me in two but this, this has torn me apart slowly.
All in all a pretty good book.
All in all a pretty good book.
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
So I really enjoyed parts of the book but not so much for others. I actually really like Julian!! I have high hopes for him, hopefully! as for the ending, it didn't surprise me because I TOTALLY CALLED IT from when I finished delirium. I knew that was going to happen!
Oh my god oh my god oh my god what was that ending I can't breath oh my god
Okay this book was like ten times better than the first book. I loved the switching time frames, I loved Lena, I loved how bad ass she became (i kinda dislike the love interest like idk not that much of a Jullian fan), loved the ending.
This was everything I was hoping to see in the first book and it's not very usual for book series to improve throughout the series. Harry Potter aside, most (dystopian) book series start off strong and get derailed when they're trying to reach their big finale and completely change the world in like a 100 pages whatevs but yeah liked this book!
Okay this book was like ten times better than the first book. I loved the switching time frames, I loved Lena, I loved how bad ass she became (i kinda dislike the love interest like idk not that much of a Jullian fan), loved the ending.
This was everything I was hoping to see in the first book and it's not very usual for book series to improve throughout the series. Harry Potter aside, most (dystopian) book series start off strong and get derailed when they're trying to reach their big finale and completely change the world in like a 100 pages whatevs but yeah liked this book!
I spent the entire book telling Lena she wasn't allowed to fall in love with this new guy, because it defeats the entire purpose of the last book. Then, just as I was starting to get used to the idea, she throws a loop back at you.
Great book, and I can't wait for the next one!
Great book, and I can't wait for the next one!
Compelling and the logical continuation of the previous story. Even though the ending was a bit predictable, it does present an interesting contrast to the way people live in our society vs. in theirs: a love triangle must seem entirely foreign when love itself is considered an illness.
Holy.Shit.Requiem.Now.
EDIT
Okay so now that I've had 24 hours to relax and reflect. (any spoilers will be hidden)
HOLYSHITREQUIEMRIGHTFREAKINGNOW!!!!!
My heart feels like it's torn.
The main guy character in this book infuriated me. I hated him. I despised him. The entire book all I could think of was AlexAlexAlexAlex and the ending? The ending is what MAKES the book, and breaks it. It breaks everything in you. It makes you want to fly to wherever Lauren Oliver is at that current moment and force her to finish Requiem and hand it to you.
The point is to bring you so far down that when it comes time to bring you up you can't wait to breathe and would do absolutely anything. It just sucks that this book doesn't bring us up, Lauren decides to keep us plunged under and drown us until next year, when she deems it fit to let us breathe with Requiem.
If you're bad with cliffhangers, really heart-wrenching, anger-influenced cliffhangers, don't read this until Requiem is out. Honestly, if I knew Delirium would end the way it did, I would have waited and read all three back to back. I was fortunate to have read Delirium with Pandemonium only days away.
Pandemonium's ending is SO MUCH HARDER TO DEAL WITH.
EDIT
Okay so now that I've had 24 hours to relax and reflect. (any spoilers will be hidden)
HOLYSHITREQUIEMRIGHTFREAKINGNOW!!!!!
My heart feels like it's torn.
The main guy character in this book infuriated me. I hated him. I despised him. The entire book all I could think of was AlexAlexAlexAlex and the ending? The ending is what MAKES the book, and breaks it. It breaks everything in you. It makes you want to fly to wherever Lauren Oliver is at that current moment and force her to finish Requiem and hand it to you.
The point is to bring you so far down that when it comes time to bring you up you can't wait to breathe and would do absolutely anything. It just sucks that this book doesn't bring us up, Lauren decides to keep us plunged under and drown us until next year, when she deems it fit to let us breathe with Requiem.
If you're bad with cliffhangers, really heart-wrenching, anger-influenced cliffhangers, don't read this until Requiem is out. Honestly, if I knew Delirium would end the way it did, I would have waited and read all three back to back. I was fortunate to have read Delirium with Pandemonium only days away.
Pandemonium's ending is SO MUCH HARDER TO DEAL WITH.