Reviews

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

kara981's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

stephanierachel's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

mrsguin's review against another edition

3.0

I won't say that I didn't enjoy the novel as a whole. I will say that, as a teacher, I try to instill in my students am appreciation for "open endings," but some storylines don't warrant a completely open ending. The Delirium trilogy is one of those stories that needs somewhat or a finite/concrete end. I do have my own theories about what happens once the novel ends, but I wish I had a little more to base those theories on.

rae_rose's review against another edition

4.0

Super cliffhanger. I've been waiting who Lena will choose, but sadly..... Arghh!!!! But it was good book, but not as great as the first two books, who literally made me cry.

emldavis001's review against another edition

3.0

This is one of the best Lauren Oliver books I have read. To be honest, I enjoyed the whole series. She is a great author and her books feel so real. I defiantly recommend this book. It's one of her best.

peggyplays's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

yaakovakiva's review against another edition

5.0

Lauren Oliver is a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL writer. I choked back sobs at the end, not just because it was a lovely ending, but also because it was so fucking beautifully written. I will likely read anything this woman writes. She is lovely.

chelsfoust's review against another edition

3.0

Okay first off I have to say that I was very into the story, all three books. The first book I really didn't like the ending. I almost didn't read the second book. Then I gave in and read it, and loved the second book. The ending was a shocker, but not necessarily bad. The third book grabbed me and I was interested, then quite depressed with how bad the world was in the book. It is hard to enjoy escaping reality to go into a worse reality with no hope of happiness. Throughout the entire book I kept expecting worse things to happen, and they did. I thought that maybe it will get better, maybe Lena will finally get a HEA. No such luck. I put book three along the lines of book one. I hated the ending. It didn't really resolve, who does Lena end up with? Was Hana really cured, what happens to her? I just don't get it, why write a book about such pain, despaire, and unhappiness to leave it completely hanging? I assume the end message is that you can't be happy without risks, and you need to bring down one wall to get to the rest, and it is easier to accept when there aren't walls keeping others out, but really? I give this 3.5 stars.

sophieekeeble's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

bookdust's review against another edition

2.0

Oh Lauren Oliver. What to say about this book? This entire concept had SO much potential, and you let it flop around like a slimy fish. I truly thought this book was going to be better than the sequel. I went through half of it convinced it was, but it got worse and worse and worse. What was Oliver thinking? Lena had about as much voice as a cardboard box, Fred, or whatever the hell Hanna's husband's was, was built up into this terrifying villain but he NEVER actually becomes the antagonist, and this whole Alex and Julian thing is such a mock to "love". None of what these people felt was even close to love. It was all petty infatuation. This could have been such an interesting development of what love is and how it affects people. But instead it was immature and childish.

NOTHING was resolved. Oliver pulled a Stephanie Meyer and completely avoided the conflict after building and building it up. Freaking Lena isn't in the fight at all. She runs around during some supposedly impressive battle to fix all of her loose ends from the first book (Which even those were godawful. Her cousin is abandoned? I didn't find that believable) and when she comes back I guess they won? Because no one is fighting anymore, and the rebels are tearing down the wall? I mean, there were 3 BOMBS, and there's no indication if they went off. What happened to the entire force squad fighting the rebels? Did they all die? A random makeup with Alex won't distract me from a revolt with three bombs sorry.

On a more technical note, Oliver has absolutely no self control with her purple prose. I had this issue with the sequel as well. There's just TOO much of it. It doesn't add to the story, it isn't poetic, and at some points it's so saturated that I can't tell if something is literally happening or if she's just trying to be deep.

Then the characterization, goodness me. Oliver seemed to have a nice little list of names of random people then she'd kill one off and bring another person forward. There were so many names that didn't mean a thing to me nor did I even know who they were.

This was an absolute mess. She really tried with the nice message and breaking down your own walls in the end, but this series was unconvincing and such a disappointment. I will never read anything published by Lauren Oliver again.