Book Review of "Delirium" by Lauren Oliver

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Title: Delirium (Delirium #1)
Author: Lauren Oliver
Classification: YA Fiction, Dystopian
Source: Bought!

Overall Grade: 

B-

Would I read it again? 

I don't think so.

Would I recommend it? 

It's definitely worth a read!

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once 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 Holoway 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.
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My Thoughts: 

In all dystopian novels, the characters lack the ability to control a certain important aspect of their own lives. In The Hunger Games, citizens of Panem have lost the ability to protect their children from the cruelty of the games. In Matched by Ally Condie, members of the Society have lost the freedom to choose their own spouse or create new literature or art. In Divergent, citizens are forced to choose between one of five factions and remain loyal to those groups, save you live a life of poverty and hardship as one of the factionless.

In Delirium, the government has outlawed love. Literally. Love has been declared a vicious disease, meant to be rooted out of every person's system at the age of 18... even sooner for those that have fallen victim to the disease before they can be cured.

Lena has always looked forward to the date of her cure, mostly because of her mother's troubled past. Her mother was one of the diseased, someone who remained infected with amor deliria nervosa even after being cured... several times. After her mother's suicide, Lena moved in with her Aunt Carol and changed her last name, attempting to blot out her murky ancestry. Deep down, she has always suspected that she might be infected with the disease, too, and she always carries her mother's last words with her: "I love you. Remember. They cannot take it."

However, despite her mother's last words and the memories of her dancing and singing and laughing; despite her connection to her best friend Hana; despite her loyalty to her mute cousin Grace, Lena believes in the cure. Lena actually believes that love is a curse, a disease. She is terrified of defying the laws against co-ed parties, staying out past curfew, and even listening to contraband music.

The fact that despite all the evidence against the so-called cure, Lena still believes in the government's lies, was extremely aggravating to me. I found her lack of disbelief in the common propaganda of her day to be, well, unbelievable. While I know that this needed to be a part of the main character's personality in order for a revolution to take place against the society in which they live, I felt like this revolution was slow moving, which ended up giving the entire novel a preachy-feel.

However, despite my problems with the general method of this story, I found Oliver's writing to be quite enjoyable. In fact, I have to say that her lyricism, along with my love for Lena and Hana as characters, was the only reason that I kept reading Delirium. For me, the plot and story (up until the last 100 pages of the book) was extremely weak.

I also did not feel invested in Alex as a character. I felt like Lena's extreme naiveté in relation to all things male made descriptions of Alex very shallow.

However, I will most likely continue on with the second novel in this series, because of the killer cliffhanger ending!

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Overall Grade: 

B-

Would I read it again? 

I don't think so.

Would I recommend it? 

It's definitely worth a read!

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