{Book Review} Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Series:  Delirium #1
ebook, 329 pages
Published February 1st 2011 by HarperCollins
Source: Overdrive
Rating: 5/5 Stars

Buy: Amazon, Kindle, Book Depository

Goodreads Summary:
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 government 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.

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My Opinion

I have been wanting to read this book ever since I've heard about it from bloggers when the sequel was released. It took me so long to grab a copy of this book because of the long waiting list! Does that explain how popular the book is? After reading it, I must say that I am not disappointed at all and I'm really glad I got a chance to read it. It's is so beautifully written that the characters felt real!

So this is a dystopia and the world in the book is totally different from our real world right now. In Delirium, love is considered a disease. I got a big shock when I read the first few chapters about deliria. I'm intrigued by that notion alone. It didn't take me long to warm up to the world in the book. It felt real. Lena, the main character in the book, has about 95 days before she has the procedure to rid her of any forms of the disease. It's what everyone after the age of 18 has to go through. Before the procedure, everyone has to go through an assessment and then a partner was matched. No love involved. Love is considered a disease in their world, remember? Lena's assessment was interrupted and the place was in a big mess (literally). That's when she first saw Alex and he was laughing at what was going on... and you guessed right, she fell in love but that's later on. (I'm not spoiling since that is in the blurb!)

They met again under another circumstance which would lead to the arrest of both Lena and her best friend, Hana. To their pleasant surprise, they weren't arrested and instead, was given a tour of the place. What a surprise for me as well! So the Alex and Lena's story continues from there... and some secrets were unveiled and decisions were made. What exactly is going to happen to both Lena and Alex? Lena's procedure would be taking place soon and time was of essence. Will they be able to go against all odds to be with each other? Read Delirium to find out.

I must applaud Ms Oliver for her fantastic world building! It shows me how the society within the book felt about love. There's a little article/report at the beginning of every chapter about delira or anything associated with it. I think that is really brilliant and gave more insight about the "disease". The story is so beautifully written in Lena's POV and all the characters felt real. Totally. The romance slowly builds up and then some mystery was thrown in about Lena's mother. The internal struggle within Lena when she had to make a decision was well-written. I was literally screaming (internally) when I reached the end of the book. I think I needed some tissues for that last part. I'll definitely read the sequel to read more about Lena and Alex. This book is so totally worth reading! Now, just let me go hunt for Pandemonium.

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Quotes

• It's so strange how life works: You want something and you wait and wait and feel like it's taking forever to come. Then it happens and it's over and all you want to do is curl back up in that moment before things changed.
• “Everyone is asleep. They've all been asleep for years. You seemed ... awake.' Alex is whispering now. He closes his eyes, opens them again.'I'm tired of sleeping.” 
• They told us love was a disease. They told us it would kill us in the end.
  For the very first time I realize, that this, too, maight also be a lie.

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About the author

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