Delirium by Lauren OliverMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I'm such a Lauren Oliver fan. I was interested in reading this book even before I knew how much I loved this author. This book has many strengths. The first, big, important strength is the premise. What would the world be like without love? I think I can say without spoiling anything that the main plot device of the book is that people have love lobotomized out of themselves at age eighteen in this dystopian future. Like the book THE GIVER, which I read recently, the idea of living without emotional pain sounds appealing when presented in a clinical way. Of course, the book explores why that wouldn't be such a good thing. The main problem with it seems obvious, but the story hits a lot of nuances that weren't apparent to me when I first thought about it. The main character is well developed and has a good growth arc. There’s a best friend character who keeps things interesting and a love interest. The love interest was possibly a weak spot in the story, but I do understand why this was done. This was Lena's story, not Alex's. The language is very descriptive and the book is actually pretty light on dialogue. The ending left it extremely open for a sequel and that tactic is probably my only complaint about the way the story was presented. Of course, the solution to that is to just go buy the sequel. It's available now!
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Shawn: I am not surprised you really liked this book. There is something about Oliver's prose. I also like Hana and am very excited to see her back (apparently she has a voice in the last book). I am gratified to see that you didn't think much of Alex either and thought he was a weak love interest. A new character in Pandemonium is a much stronger one IMHO :-)
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