Thursday, April 3, 2014

Delirium (Delirium #1) - Lauren Oliver

Delirium (Delirium, #1)


Summary

GoodreadsNinety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.


Thoughts 

I have to say, overall I really enjoyed this novel.  I may sound reserved in this review, but that's because the past gazillion books I've fangirled over, and this book is more of a quiet, steady love.  I had already read Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, which completely took me by surprise in all (good) ways.  So I at least knew a little bit of what to expect from her this time, and I was still taken by surprise.

First and foremost, it is important to note that while this book is set in a dystopia, the dystopia isn't the point, and I know that is the biggest problem most people reading this book had.  Don't read it for the dystopia aspect, read it for Lauren Oliver's amazing ability to make her characters feel so real.  I officially love her writing.  In both books I've read by her, the emotions her characters go through just feel...right.  They don't feel contrived or overdone - they feel like people, basically.  And I think that is at the core of what makes Lauren Oliver such an amazing writer.  If you're in a novel for the characters, this is the author for you.  If you are in it for the fast paced plot and world building (not that hers is bad, it's just not so amazing that it's worth note), this is probably not the novel for you.

This is another book where the best friend relationship is the most important one for me.  Lena's relationship with Hana was by far the thing I cared about most.  Hana is funny, smart, and loves Lena to bits, even if their relationship feels one sided at times.  They both change and that relationship changes with them.  Hana reminds me a little bit of Bridget from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, actually (and she always was probably my favourite of that group), so she's really a lot of fun.  Basically, this book passes the Bechdel Test with flying colours.  Alex, the love interest, was fine.  I didn't have any objections to him, but much like my reaction to Four...he just kinda was.  For me he was mostly there for Lena's growth, although there were plenty of romantic lines.  This didn't bother me - it isn't a criticism of the writing, I'm just not in this series for the romance and I think that was reflected in my caring about their relationship at all.

I can see this going down a very similar route as Westerfield's Uglies trilogy, and I can definitely see a lot of resemblances between the two (judging by the first book anyway) so we'll have to see how I feel about that.  On a side note, I have to say that I love that both books are both set sort of hereish, but also sort of altered if that makes sense. 


Spoilers and Theories

1.  I think I am actually most upset by what I imagine will likely be the end of Hana...unless she makes it into the second or third novel somehow, no surgery? I hope so! This friendship was easily my favourite part of the book.  Alex was acceptably swoony, but while integral to the story, he wasn't what the story was about for me.  And Grace!  What's going to happen to her?!

2.  She's going to meet her mom in the Wild

3.  Either rebellion is going to happen in the second book (likely) and she'll save Alex, or the next time they meet he'll have had surgery (but potentially it won't work on him like it didn't on her mom?)

4. A new love interest will be introduced


TL;DR

This book is full of very real characters.  If you're interested in character development, romance, and a splash of dystopia, this book is for you.  If you are interested in a fast paced plot with heavy world building, this book might not be for you.

10 comments:

  1. Delirium has been on my TBR for quite a long time now. I appreciate your honest thoughts regarding how this is character driven and not plot driven. I appreciate good character development too so I'm still very keen on giving this a go! :D Haven't tried Lauren Oliver before but this sounds really interesting. Great review!


    By the way, I nominated you for the Liebster Award :)

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  2. Well, I finished the series and I'm resisting to spill something I'll regret, haha! But your theories are interesting. *wiggles eyebrows*

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  3. I love your review and your blog title is too cool..:)
    I nominated you for a Liebster Award..

    http://gatewaytodifferentworld.blogspot.in/itle is also fun

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  4. I really liked Delirium...and the second one, the title of which is escaping me right now. I had major issues with Requiem though. So I will be so curious to see what you think and then I can tell you all the things I was upset about. HAHA. Also, I liked your theories. Interesting....veeerrryyyy interesting...

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  5. Yes, that was the problem I had with this book. I was hoping to get more Dystopian instead of romance/characters talk :p and I didn't like Lena at all, so that gave me some problems with this book.. I'm not going to spoil you, but you have at least 1 point in your theories right ;)

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  6. Yeah I definitely think that is important to know going into it because if you're looking for a hardcore dystopia, you'll hate this book! I really couldn't recommed Lauren Oliver more, if you don't end up reading this (and want to go a more heart wrenching route) Before I Fall is also fantastic.


    And thank you!!

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  7. Aggghh all these hints are killing me. I MUST KNOW! But on the upside, all these comments have pushed me to check the next two books out of the library asap haha

    Thank you!

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  8. I am quite fond of it I must say.

    Thank you!

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  9. Ok I seriously can't wait to get to the other two books now haha! All these comments have got me suspicious...and I'll be interested to see where Requiem derailed (although with my current track record compared to yours it's possible I'll end up loving it haha)

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  10. I can't say that Lena is one of the most stand out characters I've ever read, but in this case I think I liked the not standout qualities about her for some reason. HA. I knew I must have gotten SOMETHING right (...mostly because it's predominantly an either/or situation haha)

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