Delirium [Review]

Stats: 
470 pages [Paperback]
First published 1 Feb 2011 by HarperCollins
ISBN: 0061726834
[Amazon::Barnes&Noble]


Synopsis:
THEY SAY that the cure for Love
will make me happy and safe
forever.
And I've always believe them.
Until now.

Now everything has changed.
Now, I'd rather be infected
with love for the tiniest
sliver of a second than
live a hundred years
smothered by a lie.


My Thoughts:
Delirium ranks really high on my books read this year, right up there with Divergent and Insurgent. Oliver is a brilliant author. Her writing style is beautiful and flows so smoothly!

In Delirium, we are taken to a futuristic United States, specifically Portland, Maine. Love has been identified as a disease and scientists have developed a cure, a cure that all people must get at 18. The administering of the cure is done by removing part of the brain. You take an evaluation, are rated, and then your life is planned out for you - what your career will be, who you will marry, how many kids you will have, etc.

The main character, Lena Haloway, is counting down the days until she can be cured. She is terrified of the disease, as many are. Her mother committed suicide when she was 6 because of her disease. Lena lives with her aunt Carol, uncle William, and cousins, Penny and Grace. Her evaluation day comes and she has rehearsed her answers, but when she is in the evaluation room, she chokes. Lucky for Lena, the Invalids of the Wilds (people who are not cured and live outside the fenced city) release a stampede of cows in the building. One of the Invalids is on the observation deck and winks at Lena. And so starts the cautionary tale...

Oliver spared no details when it came to the new cured US society. She includes excerpts from the Book of Shhh (The Safety, Health, and Happiness Handbook) and various other books, mandates, laws, even outlawed quotes, verses, etc. She weaved a very intricate storyline and it was easy for me to get sucked in.

Most of the time, I find myself hating the whiny, weak female protagonists. However, Lena only seems mildly whiny and weak on the outside. Really, she is brave. It's very understandable in the society she was born in to, that she would fear amor deliria nervosa (love) and want to do what society has told her she needs to do.

I feel like Lena's relationship with her best friend, Hana, is very realistic and I really love Hana. I know there is a short story about her that I want to get my hands on. Alex is such an interesting male lead. I'm definitely ready to see where Pandemonium goes with him! I also cannot wait for more on Grace, who is mute for much of her life and is "resisting" in her own way.


Previous Review:
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare {here}



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