Review Detail

Lauren Oliver's unique plot, capturing storytelling and amazing characters has taken the dystopian genre to a whole other level... the thought of the government claiming that having any type of feelings of love - which causes hate, jealousy, depression and more - is the main cause of all of our problems (crimes, mental illnesses, suicides... just to name a few) seems so realistic. The first half of this book really made me question whether or not it was truly a possibility that 'amor deliria nervosa' may exist...

Lena has had a hard life already and all she wants to do is follow the rules and get cured. Cured from a disease that she doesn't even have yet. But, falling in love, having all of those raging emotions, can be fatal. She knows it. She's seen it. And she wants to be 'cured' before it happens to her... before she is exposed to the deliria... before she meets Alex.

Alex is everything that Lena has been taught to fear her whole entire life. A resistor. An invalid. But she feels some truth in the things that he says. And she compares these things to her childhood, to how her mother used to be... before she died, because of the disease.
Though confused, Lena decides to think outside the box and explore her feelings and new knowledge. As the story moves along, Lena grows and accepts that not all things are what they seem. And that maybe, just maybe, everything that she has been taught to do and say is wrong.

Everything about Delirium completely captured me:
The concept and plot is so original, who would have ever thought that all things pertaining to love could be a disease! A disease that can be cured; where all you have to do is have an operation and you will never have any deep feelings for anything ever again. You will never feel love, anger, passion, sympathy, bitterness... nothing. How upsetting!
Isn't it better to have love than to have never loved at all??? Heartache and all.

The characters are so engaging and memorable! Lena, at first, is just trying to get by and then realizes that there is more out there than she ever knew. As things moved along, she grew stronger and stronger and was determined to figure things out for herself. Alex was charming - he never pushed and was understanding, to a point. He had his flaws and wasn't perfect - that's what made him even more charming to me. Lena's best friend was so full of life - I loved how she balanced Lena out.

This is my 2nd Lauren Oliver book (my first was The Spindlers, which I absolutely loved!) - I knew that her writing would sweep me away into Lena's world. And I know that I am probably one of the last to read the Delirium trilogy, but I would still recommend this and will definitely re-read in the near future!