Delirium by Lauren Oliver
5 out of 5 stars
Published in 2011
Summary from Goodreads: 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.
I think saying "I was touched" seems really cheesy, but I honestly was touched by Lauren Oliver's writing. There's just something utterly beautiful and poetic and perfect about her writing. Somehow every word is magical and captivating without seeming forced or brittle. Every phrase is a drug that gets you more and more addicted. Somehow I got it on the first page and I still can't find the cure...
As for the actual disease, amor deliria nervosa, I could not believe how addicting it was. Before I read Delirium, I thought it would be cheesy and disgusting. I thought the whole idea of having love as a disease would be incredibly boring and annoying, but it wasn't. I don't know how Lauren Oliver does it. Not only did she make it really interesting, she made me feel feelings of hatred, love and anger throughout. I could not believe how awestruck I felt by how gorgeous Delirium was. Simply marvelous!
Some people say that Delirium started out slow, but I liked it that way. Only the beginning was slow, but that ended up helping the book overall. I actually could pay attention to all the characters and the events. Towards the end of the book things started getting really fast-paced. There were lots of revelations made, many twists which led to a bombshell ending.
THE ENDING. I basically bashed my head into a wall after reading it. I was thinking, Alex, Alex! Don't do this on me! Why are cliffhangers so common? I'm honestly dying here! It drove me crazy. I could not believe how incredibly mad this made me. It tore my heart apart. As for Lena, I can't even imagine how she must have felt as it occured. It must have been like the end of the world for her.
Lena was epic. She totally surpassed my expectations. She was actually aware of her flaws, which surprised me in a good way. She was a lot stronger than she thought she was. While she was plain and simple, I could not believe how well I could relate to her. She was brought thinking that love was terrible, but then she learned how truly awesome it was. I could not believe how close I felt to her as she developed. Not only that, but what I really loved about her was how honest she was. She was simply real and true with everything.
As for the other main character, I wish Alex were real! He was so understanding and mature and perfect and... golden. I'm usually not one for the golden boys, but I totally fell in love with Alex. He was just so caring and nice and real! He was amazing to epic proportions! I absolutely adored him! I loved how much chemistry he and Lena had. While it definitely was not love at first sight, it was a much better relationship. I liked how they actually got to know each other before falling in love.
But when they did, I was totally zonked out. I literally could not focus on anything besides the book. Whatever else that occured was simply not important anymore.
So yes, I'm just one of the people who totally love Delirium! But you can't blame me for loving such a perfect book!
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