Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Ninety-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.

I don't even know where to begin. I delved into Delirium with caution after mixed reviews from readers who have gone through the whole series. However, there came a point when I just had to throw my thoughts out the window and read without reservation. By the end, I was all but dying for the next two books (which, thankfully, are currently on my Kindle right now--how's that for motivation to write a review?).

The premise of Delirium is what caught my attention years ago. At the time, I had just begun to discover dystopian YA and Delirium seemed like my cup of tea. See, love tends to be a sort of saving grace when all else fails in a dystopian society, but in Delirium, love is essentially portrayed as the root of all evil. Seventeen-year-old protagonist Magdalena "Lena" Haloway starts out as just another firm believer in what she has been taught, patiently awaiting her procedure to be cured from the "disease" that is love. Of course, all hell breaks loose when she meets Alex, disguised as a citizen but really a member of resistance against the government. Lena thinks she's safe because Alex has the mark of the cure, but little does she know that nothing is as it seems.

I have to admit that Lena drove me crazy in the beginning. I almost liked her best friend Hana better because at least Hana would take risks. Ultimately, though, Lena proved herself as well. In fact, she grew beyond my expectations. Alex, not shockingly, won me over right from the start. There's just something incredibly intriguing about him and I can't wait to know more about where he comes from.

The more I read, the more I wanted to know. I loved the way Lauren Oliver gives us little tidbits of how this new government views love at the beginning of each chapter. The little twist on Romeo & Juliet was also rather refreshing. Oliver does a brilliant job of steadily increasing the tension to the point of climax, at which point I was hooked and not caring about anything except what would happen to Lena and Alex. Delirium ended on one of those "holy cliffhanger, Batman!" moments, but as I said earlier, I have the sequels and won't have to wait longer. I can only hope that the series doesn't go downhill from here like so many unfortunately tend to do.

Rating: 5/5 stars