Review of Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Release Date: Feb 1, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 440 pages
Genre: Dystopia
Rating: 4.5 stars
Source: ARC from the publisher through NetGalley

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.

Review:  Delirium’s concept, a world where the government fights to eliminate all feelings of love, is really fascinating.  I love how Lauren Oliver writes. This is her second book (the first was Before I Fall) and her writing has remained both beautiful and magnetic evoking such emotional reactions.

Believing love to be the root of all bad things, this dystopian society has perfected a medical procedure that renders the patient incapable of feeling love for anything. There is no romantic love, but also no affections toward family, children, friends, hobbies, nothing but indifference. Additionally, the government has sanitized, corrupted and rewritten all literature, including the Bible, to further their agenda. Children are indoctrinated to fear love as a deadly disease to be avoided at all costs.

Both Lena and Alex are well developed and likable characters. In the beginning of the book, Lena has low self esteem, never feeling good enough and anxiously awaiting her 18th birthday so she can be “cured,” which is how they refer to people who have had the procedure. Lena’s character matures a lot throughout the book as she realizes the truth about her society. Even though she does feel an immediate attraction to Alex, their relationship develops steadily throughout the book and you get to experience them falling in love.  I was very happy there was no love at first sight and no love triangle!

The end is action packed and a huge cliffhanger that leaves so many possibilities. Overall, Delirium is an awesome dystopian story that will remain with you long after you are done reading it. 

Content: Language (including f-bombs) and violence.