Requium by Lauren Oliver

I must remember in future to write a book review very soon after I reach the end of a book. I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, so although I expect this review to be very short I thought it deserved being written.

Once again, I will present to you the synopsis for this novel. Surprisingly Amazon doesn't provide this, I guess they assume, rightly so, that you would only want to read this book after reading the previous two. But still, it may be helpful in order to get an overview of the trilogy.

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.
But we are still here.
And there are more of us every day.

"Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.
Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.
But we have chosen a different road.
And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.
We are even free to choose the wrong thing."

Following the theme of the second book this one is written in a slightly different way. The story is told from both Lena and Hannah's point of view, alternating with each chapter. Their stories and lives seem very separate right up until the end when they ultimately converge. 

I enjoyed reading this book, and would certainly recommend it if you have read the previous two novels in the trilogy. Although I would have to say that this was my least favourite of the three. For a long period in the book the story doesn't seem to be leading anywhere, but the ending does conclude the trilogy and is worth it for that. 

What did you think of this trilogy? Do you have a similar book recommendations?  

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

After getting hooked on Delirium, I went straight on to reading the following book in the trilogy: pandemonium. I've started writing this review just minutes after reaching the end of the book.

I'm including the synopsis of this book below, but it really doesn't give anything away:

Love, the deadliest of all deadly things. It kills you when you have it. And when you don't.

I'm pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, pushing away thoughts of Alex, pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school, push, push, push, like Raven told me to do. The old life is dead. But the old Lena is dead too. I buried her. I left her beyond a fence, behind a wall of smoke and flame.

It took me a while to get used to the way this book was written, and I never quite worked out if I liked it. The book covered two stories both running in parallel, with each chapter alternating between 'then' and 'now'.

The 'then' story follows on from where the previous book left off. It tells the story of Lena's escape into the wilds and how she fits in and adapts to a new way of life. The 'then' story never fully catches up to where the now story starts.

The 'now' story starts by introducing Lena with a new identity, living in Manhattan and working as part of the resistance. She has orders to attend a demonstration and keep watch of one of the leaders. The story takes a turn when herself and the boy she was watching get kidnapped when trying to escape after the demonstration gets boycotted.

I won't give anything away, but the ending was very unexpected. It made me think 'wow' and I instantly wanted to start reading the next book.

Have you read this book? Would you recommend it?

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

I've heard this book recommended by so many people, that it had to be the first book I brought on my Kindle Paperwhite. After just recently finishing it, I thought I would do a little reveiw.

To save from giving too much away, I decided to share with you the synopsis written on the back of the book:

"They say that the cure for Love will make me happy and safe forever. And I’ve always believed them. Until now. Now everything has changed. Now, I’d rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie."

 This is a dystopian novel. If you don't know what that means, a dystopia is a society that is frightening or undedesirable to live in. In this case, the society is made to believe that love is a disease and live in fear of becoming infected (falling in love).

The story starts of with the main character Lena, who has believed what she has been told her whole life and is counting down the days until her procedure. She believes that the cure will give her safety and security, stability. She doesn't know any different until her friend Hana opens her eyes to things Lena didn't know existed. And then she meets Alex, and the world she lives in is changed forever.

I really enjoyed reading this book and learning about this new society, thinking about the ideas brought up. When you're told the symptoms of disease 'amor deliria nervosa' they are all things that can happen when someone falls in love and it's easy to understand why in this society it is looked upon as a bad thing. But as you continue to read you learn that everything they know is built upon lies.

I highly recommend this book and loved it so much I started reading the second in the trilogy right away.