Delirium (Delirium #1)

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In this book, love is a disease that scientists have developed a cure for. There are the occasional revolters, but this society tries to eradicate them as much as possible.

Lena Halloway is just a normal teenage girl living in the walls of this society, cared for by her aunt and very obedient. After her mother (view spoiler)[ supposedly (hide spoiler)] died years and years ago, Lena has been a strict adherent to the path set out for her.

All is well and good for little Lena, till she meets a boy.

And like in all YA fiction, it's downhill from there.

Is it possible to love a book even if you dislike the protagonist? I'm here to say, yes , it is incredibly possible, and this book is my proof.

Let's start with the negative, and then redeem the book at the end.

Lena is...
INFURIATING.

I am an advocate for strong female characters that fight for what they believe in, kick ass when they have to, and never give up.

How many of you agree?

*Counts hands*

All of you! Wonderful, we're on the same page.

But Lena, Lena...

is just so weak .

I suppose Oliver was simply trying for a new female protagonist personality, because all of them are so cliché,

But honestly, the damsel-in-distress DOES NOT WORK WITH DYSTOPIA.

Lena is content just to sit back and watch the events in front of her unfold, trying not to get her hands dirty. Until she gets some completely illogical, suicidal notion that almost kills everyone and ruins everything.

How the hell did Alex fall for her?

Alex seems like the type of guy that would go for a kick-ass, steel corset, dagger-taped-to-inner-thigh kind of girl (at least to me, he does), but Lena has none of these attributes!

I don't want to leave this review off on a bad note. I actually really liked the book.

The concept of love being a disease is a new, fresh take on the basic love story that we all are oh so familiar with, and have grown to relatively despise. In the world of dystopia, with everyone scrambling to grab the newest "corrupt-society idea", this one definitely has earned it's place.

The characters I like:

Hana
Alex
Lena's Mother

Characters I dislike:

(view spoiler)[ everyone else (hide spoiler)]

I absolutely love Hana. In my opinion, she should of been the heroine, she should've gotten the guy, she (view spoiler)[ should've escaped the society (hide spoiler)].

But that didn't happen. If you read her short story, (cleverly names "Hana") you'd know what really happened to her. (view spoiler)[ she got cured. (hide spoiler)]

Hana is headstrong and passionate; she doesn't need a boy to show her the joys of life and tell her how to enjoy herself. This is how the main character should've been.

Hana aside, I love how Oliver continuously calls "love" the deliria throughout the book, keeping the concept of it being forbidden but yet, overcome.

Don't even get me started on Pandemonium.

READ THIS BOOK. You'll love it. Ignore the negatives; focus on the positives. I'm just being picky. It's my thing.

This review is also on Goodreads.