larawalden 's review for:

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
3.0
Delirium is a classic YA-dystopian novel, except in this society, love is the disease that the government is eradicating in order to maintain control. How does the government eradicate love? By giving all citizens partial lobotomies when they turn eighteen, of course. Mmm, where can we sign up, right?

I really like the relationship between Lena and Hana. Instead of painting them as extremist caricatures (The Rebel and The Rule Follower, for instance), each girl has elements of both in her personality. I found that a refreshing change. On the other hand, Alex felt very sketchily drawn. I didn't get a grasp of who he was, why he fell for Lena, and why she fell for him. I get young love, and infatuation, and first love, but I just didn't get why it happened for these two.

The plot followed a pretty classic structure. When I got about a quarter of the way through and nothing much really happened, I predicted that the first plot point would arrive at about 33% in. I was right. The second third chugged along, wasn't particularly interesting, but then the final third picked up in both speed and interest.

SpoilerI give mad props to Lauren Oliver for having the guts to kill off her catalyst right before the end of Book 1. And for giving Lena a legitimate reason to keep going despite losing her first - and only? - love.
This alone will keep me reading this series.