#27 Book Review: Delirium

Delirium
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Pages: 393
Published: February 3rd 2011
Author: Lauren Oliver
Source: Borrowed from Library

Summary from Goodreads:
Love. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don t.


In Lauren Oliver's stunning second novel, love has been declared a dangerous disease, and the government forces everyone who reaches eighteen to have a procedure called the cure. Lena Haloway is very much looking forward to being cured and living a safe, predictable life. But then she meets enigmatic Alex, who lives under the government s radar. What will happen if they do the unthinkable and fall in love?


Lauren Oliver follows up her incandescent debut, the New York Times bestseller Before I Fall, with this extraordinary novel about a high-stakes romance set in a dystopian United States. Delirium presents a world as terrifying as The Hunger Games and a romance as true as Romeo and Juliet.

My review:

Cover:
I love the cover. It's really interesting how there's a girl's face formed from the fonts in the cover. It's like there's a girl behind each fonts. The blurb and the idea of this cover is lovely. I think I love all the different covers for this book. It's really gorgeous.

4 Forget-me-not flowers for the cover!

Story:
This is one of the best Young Adult dystopian novel I've read. Sometimes, I also think about how love is like a disease, it makes you crazy, addicted and eventually might also kill you. Lauren Oliver delivers this story so beautifully and it's written very well! The more I read this book, the more I can understand how Love can actually be a disease and how life seems meaningless without love.

Delirium is the story of Lena, a girl who lives in a world where love is categorized as a disease. Although, scientists have made a cure but only those who reach 18 years of age can be cured as that is the minimum age to make sure that the cure works perfectly. When Lena has a test before she actually gets the cure, she meets a boy, Alex who has golden brown hair like the autumn leaves. She never expected to meet him and eventually, she falls in love with him. Alex is not from the place where she lives. He is from somewhere outside, a Rebel. They must struggle with their love and against the government, who declared that anyone infected with the love disease must be cured.

The story is just beautiful. I can imagine what it's like for Lena, believing that love is something horrible and terrible yet when she finally experiences it, it's something so sweet and beautiful that she is willing to fight for it. Alex is also a very well written character. I enjoyed reading about him, how he loves Lena and the love they have for each other. It is also interesting the way Oliver puts excerpts of books made by the government about symptoms of love, the book of shhh and etc. When I read the symptoms, it even convinced me that love can actually be a disease.

One thing that 'kills' me is the ending. Such a cliffhanger. It makes me dying to read the sequel already. The thing is, I've never read a cliffhanger like this before. It affects the main character so badly that it kills me. Although I'm not annoyed with the cliffhanger. It just makes me dying to read Pandemonium, the sequel.

Characters: 
I simply love Lena and Alex. Their romance and relationship is just beautiful. I enjoyed reading about both of them but since Delirium is written in Lena's POV, we know her better than Alex. The life she's living, the way she finds love so beautiful she is willing to fight the government for it makes you understand that you can also be Lena. I can connect to all the characters and I like their personalities too. Alex is also a very sweet guy who is quiet and he has this gorgeous hair and eyes. Well, who wouldn't fall for that?

Overall: 
Love is bittersweet. Love is disease. Delirium explores these themes and allows you to think what the world is like without love. The book is filled with romance and also actions. I devoured this book and finished it in a day. I also agree with other reviewers that this book is recommended to those who also love The Hunger Games and Matched. An utterly spectacular book.

5 Forget-me-not flowers for Delirium!

Love is a disease. How unique is that?!

Alltime favourite quote from Delirium:

'I love you. Remember. They cannot take it.'