Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Book Review (Delirium by Lauren Oliver)



Delirium by Lauren Oliver delirium-lauren-oliver.jpg 

Delirium takes place in a dystopian world where love, referred to as amor deliria nervosa or more commonly “the delirium," is considered a disease that must be cured once citizens reach adulthood.  Those who refuse the cure are known as Invalids and reside in the Wilds, a harsh, unregulated territory closed off from the American border.  The story follows Lena ninety-five days before she turns 18 and is scheduled for her own procedure.  For Lena, love is a curse that caused her mother to commit suicide.  Left to a life plagued by memories of her own mother’s delirium, she believes the procedure will lead to the stability she always lacked.  That is until she falls in love…with an Invalid.

Lauren Oliver creates a beautiful love story between Lena and Alex, one that is wrought with indecision and tragedy.  Can Lena leave her safe life, a life she's always craved, behind to explore the passionate, yet uncertain future with Alex?  Her decisions are defined by memories of her past which are merged expertly with the present throughout the narrative.  As dystopian fiction goes, Delirium crafts a totalitarian America that is both believable and fully realized.  The story is filled with well-paced surprises and twists.

Lauren Oliver has proved herself to be one of my favorite YA authors.  If you haven’t read Before I Fall, you should…like, right now.  It was devastatingly beautiful and blew me away.  I was thrilled that Oliver could take the emotional resonance from Before I Fall and incorporate it into a dystopian story.  Look for the other two books in the trilogy: Pandemonium and Requiem.

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