Review "Delirium" by Lauren Oliver

Delirium (Delirium #1)

Lauren Oliver

Publication Date: February 1, 2011

Publisher: Harper Teen

Hardcover: 441 pgs

Goodreads

Summary:

     In Delirium, scientists have developed a cure to keep people safe from...love. Love is unpredictable unsafe and at times deadly. The only way to keep people from succumbing to this deadly disease is to cure them. Seventeen year old Lena Holoway is 95 days away from getting the cure for the deliria. Once she gets the cure she will be safe, life will be predictable, happy, she'll be free to live the rest of her life safe from getting infected by the deliria. But Lena soon discovers that what she believes and has been told her whole life may be wrong. Why?...Lena does the inconceivable and falls in love. When that love is threatened Lena will do whatever it takes to save and preserve this precious thing she has discovered. 

Review:

     First and foremost I must say that I had forgotten what Delirium was supposed to be about, so when I started reading I was like What? They have banned love? The concept drew me in instantly. It was so unique and different. I wanted to see how people lived and functioned without being able to love. Once people get the cure they are devoid of personality. They are like living zombies going about their daily routines with no passion, pain, or true happiness. They have jobs and families but without love it's more of an obligation to do what they are supposed to. It was kind of scary to see how love could be outlawed and almost everyone just went with it and didn't question it. But some people, invalids, did question it. Most of them live in what is known as the wilds, an area outside of the town's heavily guarded borders. If people are unable to love then they are unable to feel compassion for those around them. Which was evident when the regulators conducted raids. They did so without mercy and at times it seemed as though they enjoyed hurting and threatening others. The regulators like the power they have over others. Instead of protecting the people they were used as more of a scare tactic to keep citizens in line. People are afraid all the time even when they aren't doing anything wrong, since they can be arrested and killed at the mere thought of being a sympathizer. 

      

     Lena comes from a troubled background which has made life somewhat difficult for her. But despite her childhood and maybe because of it Lena is more then ready to get her cure and move on with the rest of her life, safe from getting the disease. Lena will change once she gets the cure, the things she once cared about like her best friend Hana, will no longer be important since she will be unable to love. She is a dreamer and sees the beauty in life even when she knows she's not supposed to. But when Lena meets Alex a boy who has already gotten the cure things start to change. She does things that are out of character, like agreeing to sneak out to meet him. But when he tells her who he really is she freaks out and refuses to go near him again. Eventually the two meet up again and Lena starts to fall in love. Something that has terrified her her whole life. I was tense and anxious the entire time I was reading. I never knew if Alex and Lena were going to get caught. I liked Lena, she had a healthy respect for what she has been taught, but she also had a mind of her own. She was also a lot stronger than she realized. When it came time to do something scary or difficult she did what she had to do despite the fear. 

     This book is filled with a delicious tension that had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. Delirium is filled with amazing descriptions and vivid details that allowed me to easily see the world that Lena inhabits. It is an intense heartbreaking read that I couldn't put down.

Cover:

     I'm a fan of this cover. I like that we can only see the girl, who I assume is Lena, through the title and authors name.