Review - Pandemonium (Delirium #2) by Lauren Oliver

Title: Pandemonium

Author: Lauren Oliver

Series: 2nd (Delirium)

Pages: 375 

Published: February 28th 2012 by HarperTeen 

ISBN: 9780061978067

Source: Around The World Tours

Description: I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, pushing aside thoughts of Alex, pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school, push, push, push, like Raven taught me to do.  The old life is dead.   But the old Lena is dead too.  I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence, behind a wall of smoke and flame.

I Give This ...

 

I felt like I had to sit and think about this book for quite awhile.  It was a good follow up to Delirium.  It was well above how I usually feel for the second, but it had a different feel than the first novel.

I had the most trouble with the different time periods.  I'm horrible at reading chapter titles and it took me awhile to get use to how the novel was set up.  It felt choppy because I kept wondering how Lena got to be back in society.  I knew the story would get to it eventually, it just bugged me for some reason.  I think it would have worked just fine in a normal time line.  Was Delirium set up the same way? (I honestly can't remember.)

Lena shows some admirable characteristics when meet her in the wild.  She's injured, near death, and has lost Alex.  I think it's hard for her at first to pick up the pieces, she needs that push.  No one in the Wild can shirk his/her duties.  I liked that they gave her time to come to terms with what's happened to her, but know when she needs the push to move on.  I liked how Lena finds her place in this little band of outsiders.  When she finds what she wants to do in this group she pushed for it.

I liked the pacing of the actions while they are infiltrating the city.  I like how the don't tell Lena the whole story.  I think it was necessary for her to go in blindly even though she doesn't like it in the end.  I loved Lena's interactions with Julian.  I liked that he was able to see the other side of things.  Such a blow to his dad and the people he is connected to.  I'm curious as to how this will effect society's view on the "illness".

I was kind of disappointed in the ending.  I had been expecting it all along.  But, I really wanted it much sooner in the book.  I think it's kind of a blow to the storyline and to Lena's character to have it happen on the last pages.  It was one of those things that made me think about giving it a lower rating.  But, after much consideration, I kept it were I originally had planned.

A worthy addition to the series.  Still think it has some characteristics of the Pretty series, but it's beginning to take a life of it's own.  I'm looking forward to the next one (and such a long wait it will be).