Delirium

Set in a strange dystopia where lovesickness is much more associated with sickness than with love, Delirium by Lauren Oliver introduces readers to Lena, a young teen who dreams of her eighteenth birthday when she will receive "the cure" - a procedure designed to vaccinate against love. Of course as the date of her long awaited step into adulthood approaches, Lena begins to question the world around her: Is the cure all it is promised to be? Is love as dangerous and deadly as she has been taught? Is there something missing in what she has been told about her family's strange history? Amidst these tumultuous questions, Lena then does the unthinkable and dares to fall in love.

I was impressed with the creative premise of Delirium and enjoyed Lauren Oliver's writing, which drew me fully into the world and characters she created. What started out as a somewhat predictable setup took several unexpected twists and turns, and I was pleased to see Oliver take the story on a more intriguing path than what I expected. Many young adult writers seem content to deliver a simple, entertaining narrative but Delirium is a book to challenge readers and inspire thought outside the tale it tells. This book works as a standalone novel, but with the complex setting and protagonist, I would be plenty pleased to see a sequel to this captivating work.

I received an Advance Review copy of this work from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.  This review represents my honest and unbiased opinions.  Delirium is on sale Tuesday, February1st.

8 Response to "Delirium"

  1. Bailey says:
    January 24, 2011 at 3:16 PM

    Ooh I've seen lots of reviews of this book and I'm really interested in it now! I'm not the biggest YA fan, but it looks like a good read...

  2. Nikki - Notes of Life says:
    January 24, 2011 at 4:07 PM

    I've seen a few review of Delirium now and think it's one for my to add to my ever-growing TBR pile. Great review :)

  3. lisa :) says:
    January 25, 2011 at 11:07 AM

    I know a lot of people really raved about this one, so it may have been a little over-hyped for me. I think it's safe to say I didn't love it quite as much as some people did, but it was still really well constructed. Again, the author's ability to really hook me and then totally surprise me was (in my opinion) what made it such an enjoyable book!

  4. Attack of the Book! says:
    January 25, 2011 at 3:11 PM

    I'm glad you liked this one. I ended up not liking it but I think most people did.

    Your review didn't make it sound like you were unimpressed :) I know what you mean about hype though. I know that that affects how much I like a book too.

  5. Unknown says:
    January 26, 2011 at 12:55 AM

    For me it was ok. Good but things happened so fast. I wish the time line was a bit longer for them to fall "in love" I mean it was days and she was changing her whole life for him.

    But it was a good read. I flipped through so fast and enjoyed it otherwise, except believability.

    Nice cute review :) Thanks much for stopping by.

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  6. Danielle Zappavigna says:
    January 26, 2011 at 7:08 AM

    I've heard this starts a little slow and then gets great, I've added it to the TBR list. At first I wasn't interested because I didn't love the cover (so judgemental I'm ashamed to admit :-)), with so many YA books out there I've got to have some kind of system for weeding out the good ones! But the positive reviews have changed my mind, I'll read this one for sure.

  7. lisa :) says:
    January 26, 2011 at 10:48 AM

    @Attack otB - In the book world, I think hype is the ultimate double edged sword. In some ways I love to hear about new books, but other times I hate that they're built up to unreasonable expectations.

    @MadScientist - Infatuation in YA love stories doesn't bother me too much if the rest of the story is well done. I guess mostly I'm just shaking my head and sighing at the main character with an internal monologue along the lines of "Oh you silly girl..."

    @mummazappa - I actually got the ARC which had a much different cover, and I actually liked a lot better! I'm not sure why the change other than that the ARC cover maybe looked a bit too much like a paranormal romance cover(?).

  8. Casey (The Bookish Type) says:
    February 13, 2011 at 2:47 PM

    I totally agree. The best thing about dystopians is that they make you THINK looong after you finish them. The ending of this book was completely jaw-dropping!

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