Genre: YA Dystopian - Publisher: HarperTeen - Publication Date: February 1, 2011 - Format: Hardcover - Pages: 441 - Source: Received as a gift (At Random)
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 governments 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. (Goodreads.com)
My experience with Delirium was kind of like eating chocolate cake. It's delicious and while you're eating it, you think, well this might be the most wonderful thing I've ever eaten. You want to devour the whole thing, but savor each fabulous bite. You hope you never run out of the chocolate cake. But the thing is, Delirium trumps that chocolate cake by like three trillion. It's almost hard for me to sit here and write a review, because I feel like I could never do this book justice no matter how hard I try.
If I had only a limited amount of words I could use to describe this book (and thank the heavens I don't!), I'd have to say my top choices would be heart-breaking and tantalizing. Everything about this novel is utterly heart-breaking and gut-wrenching. The world, the belief systems, the relationships. Everything. Sometimes I wanted to step inside of the novel and shake some SENSE into the people. This story was tantalizing because even when there were the happiest scenes, I could still feel the enormous pressure of impending doom pressing down on the characters.
I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book. I had never once read a bad review of it, and I was agonizingly desperate to read it. The first 20 pages or so were kind of slow and I thought, Oh no. This is going to be just like Matched by Ally Condie. But then it picked up and I couldn't stop reading. I seriously could not. Oliver's writing is absolutely stunning and vivid and all together awe-inspiring. I get chills just thinking about it. I felt every emotion deep in my gut and it was so beautiful and simultaneously terrifying because I would never want to go through what Lena goes through.
This book isn't action-packed or particularly fast-paced, but it is still exciting. Gorgeous. Moving. It made me feel, made me think, made laugh, made me cry, made me shake my head, made me whoop with excitement. It got my hopes up, it tore me to pieces.
I'm hesitant to say that this is one of the best books I've read in 2011, but I'm pretty sure it fits. I know that this is a book I will never forget, a book that I will hold dear to me for a long time. A book that I will never get tired of reading. There are twists and turns and trouble and bittersweet moments.
This book shows that love can make people better, braver, stronger. It shows that love can make people blind and stupid while making everything clear and making people smarter at the same time. People can act foolishly and admirably. It can make people crazy while being the only thing that keeps them sane. Love is a risk, and this book proves that it is a risk worth taking.
Lena is strong and courageous, even when she doesn't realize it. Alex is...Alex is marvelous. Absolutely marvelous. No words can describe how much I fell in love with him throughout this novel. Hana and Gracie. Carol Rachel. They all brought something unique and special to the table that I can't even put into words.
Now, I'll say this: The last two pages of the book were emotionally the most difficult thing I have ever read. I sobbed and sniffled and it took me ten minutes to finish those last two pages because I couldn't read past my tears. Then, I read the summary for Pandemonium, the sequel, and I cried even harder. This book haunts me. I went to sleep thinking about it, I woke up thinking about it. I will be buying Pandemonium the day it is released. I can't even do a 'Reasons I liked it' section for this book, because I loved every little bit of it. Everything. This book has over 400 pages and I read it in less than twelve hours.
If you even came remotely close to enjoying...
If I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Matched by Ally Condie
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Divergent by Veronica Roth
If I Stay by Gayle Foreman
Then you will LOVE LOVE LOOOOOVE Delirium.
Delirium is one of those books that makes me want to shout about it from the rooftops! It is beautifully written in a way that is just completely captivating. I was so enamored with this book that it was very hard to put down. I found myself caught up in the emotion that the characters were feeling. I would catch myself actually holding my breath, without even realizing it! Oliver's writing is descriptive in a way that it made me feel like I was actually in Portland, Maine watching the scenes unfold right there in front of me. While reading what Lena was going through, I felt the passion, the sadness, the hatred and the joy with her. It was an absolutely amazing experience.
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