Lisa Reviews: Lauren Oliver's - "Delirium"

I know! I’m so embarrassed! There is no need for anymore blogger bullying! (JK!) I’ve finally picked up Delirium, read it, and I’m here today to review it! This book came out a little over a year ago, and back in those days I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it!

But after purchasing it, for some reason I never found myself picking it up. Other books needed reviewing, things came up, and soon Delirium was just left, sitting on my shelf, collecting dust. And I’m utterly embarrassed to admit it!

Before I even get into the story, and how much I loved it, how hard it was for me to put down, etc, I need to discuss something important, one of the two things that bothered me throughout reading Delirium… The cover…DAH DAH DAAAAH!

I feel that Delirium has so much substance, content and overall amazing qualities, but I also feel that this cover does nothing for the story. The cover is just a face, it doesn’t tell you anything about the fantastic story inside. There are so many different things that could have been put on this front cover to make it more interesting, than a face…

Delirium takes place in a society that believes love to be a disease; that takes over the body, the mind, and the soul. Their belief is that this disease that leads to suicide and many other health issues. But when a person turns eighteen in this society they are luckily given the cure, to prevent love.

Once this person is cured, they are matched with someone else (who is, of course, also cured) to spend the rest of their lives together, having as many kids as the government wants them to, and basically doing anything the government requires of them. Cured ones don’t feel any emotions, not for their significant other, not for their children, nothing.

If you are left uncured after the age of eighteen, you are now known as an Invalid and are shunned out by society. Many rumors have floated around that many Invalids reside outside of the government walls, but no one knows if that’s really true.

Delirium follows the story of a seventeen year old girl named Lena, who lives in this society and has never known anything else. She can’t wait for her eighteenth birthday and to finally be granted the cure. But Lena’s story isn’t just that simple, see, Lena’s mother could be considered an Invalid, because even after receiving the cure four times, her “love” was never cured, and in the end love is what caused her to commit suicide!

Not wanting to turn out like her mother, and allowing love to take her over, Lena has to look her best, and do her best in the interview before receiving the cure. She can’t risk anything, everything must be perfect!

Standing inside of the interview room, in front of a desk full of judges, Lena is already nervous and making mistakes, even though she and her aunt practiced the questions a million times before. But just lucky for Lena, her interview is interrupted by a herd of cows, and a very handsome boy chasing after them. Lena is given another date and time to redo her interview.

Lena and her best friend Hana, are spending the afternoon together and bump into the same guy, Lena saw during her interview chasing the herd of cows. Feeling nervous to be around someone much older than her, and a male, Lena has to remind herself that it’s okay, because he was over eighteen and already had the cure; especially since he worked for the government.

But after talking and spending some time together, Lena can’t seem to get Alex out of her head. She is starting to have these feelings, thoughts, and urges, all somehow including Alex. She even starts to wonder if the cure isn’t what she wants, maybe she does like the feeling of love taking her over…and maybe the government is wrong.

Delirium was everything I expected from reading reviews and listening to people rave, and so much more! I loved the characters, I loved the upside down society Lena lived in, and I loved how people feared love … Muahhhahah! (That was my evil laugh…)

Lena was down to earth, and feared a lot. But she also had reason to. Her mother went through a lot because of love and not receiving the cure properly. Lena’s biggest fear was turning out just like her mother, and becoming completely shunned by society.

Besides Lena, you also learn a lot about Alex; the guy who for some strange reason was chasing cows through a building…still not sure how that happened. Without giving too much information away, he wasn’t what he seemed to be, even though he worked for the government. But Alex was sweet, normal, and not too pushy like a lot of guys seem to be in YA novels.

Lena and Alex were the main characters in Delirium, but other than that the reader doesn’t learn too much about anyone else except for the society (you would consider that like the evil villain). Lena lives with her aunt and uncle after her mother “committed suicide”. Hana (Lena’s best friend) pops up a few times throughout the story, but not too much, and Invalids can be found here and there in the government’s city limits.

Earlier I said that the cover was one of the two things that bothered me throughout the story, so right now I’m about to tell you the second. And I don’t want you to get mad at me, or think that I didn’t enjoy Delirium, because I REALLY did; I loved it. But in the beginning of Delirium, Lena’s fear of love and need of the cure is obvious, almost every page mentions it. And with her mother’s history, why wouldn’t she feel that way? But once she meets Alex, she seems to do a three sixty in a matter of minutes and completely change her mind, about something she’s felt her ENTIRE life. That doesn’t happen so fast, and that’s what kind of bothered me.

(Sorry for the long rants!)

Overall Delirium was an amazing reading, and I hate myself for just letting it collect dust on my shelf for this long! I’m excited to get to the next book, and finish the series! Heard many amazing things about the rest!