Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

(Goodreads profile)
Source: Purchased
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 441

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

I am... amazed. Delirium is a stunning novel that destroyed all expectations that I had going into it. Was the plotline great? Yes. Did I connect with the characters? You bet. Was Lauren Oliver's prose as gorgeous as in Before I Fall? Heck yes!

One thing that I've appreciated in Lauren's novels so far is the character development. As human beings (or vampires, werewolves, zombie cats, etc.) I expect to see people shaped by their experiences and interactions with other people and things. Lauren Oliver does not disappoint. If I wanted to, I could map out the ways that Lena changes throughout the novel: feelings, actions and thoughts. Better still, the journeys of the characters actually make sense in correlation to the events of the book.

And then there's... Alex. Alex who laughs, listens, cares and lights Lena's world up like a chain of Christmas lights. I loved everything about this boy and the relationship between him and Lena was beautiful from the beginning to the end. Seeing them get to know each other - fall in love - stands out so brightly against the dull and heartless background of the place they live.

Speaking of that, how creepy is this story's backdrop? A place with no love sounded horrifying to me at first - as it should! I don't think I really sat down and considered the possibilities of that until much later though. The worse part of the no love deal to me personally is the fact that a parent can't love their child. They provide them with the basic necessities because of instructions for the government but would they actually care if their child got sick? Probably not.

I can't leave without gushing again on how amazing I find Lauren Oliver's writing. There are sentences and passages that I feel like tattoo-ing all over my body because they were so lovely. It actually took me a while to read this one because I kept going back to re-read certain things. Each sentence is strung together with care and they deliver a punch of emotion every time.

Finally... the ending. How do you end a book like that?! Seriously, you might as well as just rip out my heart and stomp on it! I am dying - DYING - to read the sequel. March 2012? Not soon enough!  

Cover Comments: I like it well enough but... so much less than the new covers! Honestly, if my copy wasn't signed, I might buy the new one just because it's pretty and will match the rest of the series when it comes out. I still might. Can't resist the pretty.