Review - Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver

Title: Requiem

Author: Lauren Oliver

Series: 3rd (Delirium, Pandemonium) 

Pages: 391

Published: March 5th 2013 by HarperCollins Children's Books 

ISBN:  9780062014535

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss

Description: They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.  But we are still here.  And there are more of us every day.  Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.  After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.  Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings. Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.  But we have chosen a different road.  And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.  We are even free to choose the wrong thing. 

I Give This ...
 

 I was really looking forward to this book.  Lauren Oliver pulled me in with Delirium and I had no doubt that I would be finishing the series.  So, it's always a risk when my expectations are high.  Plus, this is the final book in the trilogy.  You want everything to wrap in such that way that you are satisfied.   I'm not really sure this book delivered all of that!

Lena has come a long way from the love sick girl we met in Delirium.  It's not longer about getting out from under the cure.  Lena sees the bigger picture.  She wants to act, to do all she can to bring down the very people she use to think were protecting her.  Problem is she can't do it alone.  She needs others to help.  And more than just her little group of resisters.  The world isn't going to change for just them.  But, Lena never gives up until she finds what she's looking for, both in love and in life.

I have to admit that I was mad out our little surprise from book two for most of this one.  I think he acted like a royal jacka$$.  I know he endured a lot and escaped, and the whole time was thinking of Lena.  But, did he really except to her to be waiting and pining away for him.  I think she went through the despair long enough and I know I was happy for her when it seemed she moved on.

This final books feels so vastly different from the initial book that I feel in love with.  I know our characters have grown in leaps and bounds.  But, I feel like they've become hard.  I miss that carelessness and excitement that they had in the beginning.  Plus, I was really disappointed in the ending.  I feel like questions weren't really addressed.  I kept thinking this can't be it, yet everything I've read says this is the final book in the trilogy.  While, I sometimes hate it when an author makes a trilogy longer.  This time around, I would like another story.  This one isn't done!

 

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).

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Title: Delirium

Author: Lauren Oliver

Series: have a feeling it will be first in a series

Published: February 2011 by Harper Teen

Pages: 440

ISBN: 9780061726828

Source: Around The World Tours

Description: Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that one love -the deliria- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love. 

I Give This ... 

  

Put me in the camp of those who weren't sure Lauren Oliver's next novel would top her debut Before I Fall.  I think with this one, she proven she has something to offer the young adult genre and will be here to stay.  While I have to say I didn't like it as much as Before I Fall, it is still one of the best books I've read this summer and right behind my 5 star books for the best of the year.  I highly recommend getting it as soon as it's released.

I've really enjoyed books set in a future society.  Although, I'm not sure why it's always rigorously controlled by  whatever government system is in place.  It always works with the storyline though, and this one is no exception.  I think it's because everyone is so afraid to break the rules, that when they do it makes it that much more exciting.  I love how the characters believe they live in a Utopian society, when actually the opposite is probably true.  I do have to admit that for half the story I thought it took place in Portland, Oregon.  I had a hard time adjusting my thinking when I realized it was actually Portland, Maine.

I grew to love Lena by the end of the story.  Some characters push the rules from the very beginning of the story.  Lena fights it every step of the way.  She's trying her best to be a model citizen and accept what's society has chosen to give her.  I think she hopes by doing this, she can overcome her own families failures.  She doesn't want to be different.  Alex is wonderful.  I knew what he was, but was surprise at how well he seemed to blend into society.  I loved how he pushed Lena into finding out what she really wanted.  He was always right there when he needed her most.  I also enjoyed watching Lena and Hanna's relationship evolve.  At first they were trying to accept how their relationship will be different after they are both cured by stepping away from each other before their operations.  But, then they realize that how they feel about their friendship now is just as important.

The story itself is beautiful.  Oliver has a way with story telling that just captures you from the first pages.  I picked it up and finished it less than 24 hours later (I stopped to sleep lol).  The ending left me breathless and craving more.  The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is some of the ideas of this society weren't entirely believable to me.  The idea that people could be cured of loved but then expected to raise a family just didn't sit well with me (I didn't buy into the idea of not experiencing love would prevent such incidents as children being drowned in the bathtub as explained at one point).  I also was reminded greatly of Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.  The story lines were very similar.

 

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Title: Before I Fall

Author: Lauren Oliver
Published: March 2010
Pages: 470
ISBN: 9780061726811
Source: Around The World Tours

 

Description: What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life? Samantha Kingston has it all—looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12th should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it’s her last. The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. In fact, she re-lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she had ever imagined.

I Give This Book 4 Stars!

It's hard to know what to expect when a book has a lot of hype and a tendency towards raving reviews. You don't want to be let down, but the book still draws you in. The idea of someone reliving the last day of their life 7 times was interesting. I was impressed with how such little changes could effect the outcome. I wasn't sure what to think of Sam at first. She seemed so shallow. And, I couldn't understand her relationship with her friends. But, with each time she relived that last day, I felt she grew as a person. Her actions became more heartfelt and she began to realize how she effected others. I even began to understand her friends. I do have to admit I was hoping for a different ending. But, endings don't always have to be neat and happy to make a story beautiful. This was a very moving book about high school, friendship, acceptance, bullying, grief, and first loves. I was amazed at how the author so neatly tied it all together. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us in the future.