Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Requiem (Delirium #3)
By Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperCollins

To Sum It Up:

With the government determined to wipe out the clusters of resistance that have cropped up across the country, the Wilds have become a dangerous place for Lena and her companions. They are constantly on the move, trying to avoid the government patrols that now regularly sweep the rugged terrain in search of rebels. Meanwhile back in Portland, Lena’s former best friend, Hana, now cured of amor deliria nervosa, prepares for her wedding. Her fiancé will soon be mayor, and it seems that Hana is about to embark on a fairytale life. The reality of her situation couldn’t be farther from that, though. It’s freedom from exactly that kind of life that Lena is fighting for, no matter what the cost.

Review:

Requiem ranters, I feeleth thy pain. The conclusion to the Delirium series eerily reminds me of how I felt after reading the final book in Ally Condie’s Matched trilogy. The middle books of both dystopian series had thrilling build-ups that made you expect, and even look forward to, a ton of action in the finales. Both Reached and Requiem failed to deliver on their promises, though. I’ve always liked the Delirium series more than Matched, which made Requiem all the more disappointing.

Requiem felt very meandering to me, in a “Hey, let’s just see where the story takes us!” kind of way. Maybe that’s because Lena and her compatriots in the resistance spend so much time roaming about in the woods arguing about where they should head next. They eventually settle on a destination, but not after I’d already been bored reading about their daily routine of setting up their tents, starting a fire, collecting food and water, blah, blah, a routine that I had to continue reading about throughout the novel.

I thought Lauren Oliver’s technique of dividing the previous book, Pandemonium, into “Then” and “Now” chapters chronicling Lena’s arrival in the Wilds and her present day mission for the resistance movement and converging the two timelines was just brilliantly done. I do not, however, have the same enthusiasm for the alternating points of view in Requiem. This time, Lena shares narrating duties with her former best friend, Hana, last seen in Delirium. Hana has been cured and is set to marry the soon-to-be mayor, Fred Hargrove. While the idea of reading from the perspective of someone who has undergone the procedure was novel and I give Oliver credit for continuing to be ambitious with her writing style, I just didn’t find Hana’s chapters interesting. Her fiancé was cartoonishly evil; there was no depth to him whatsoever. I didn’t find Hana all that likable, either, especially once her big secret was revealed. Then I kind of hated her. I remember reading the stilted dinner conversations between Lena’s aunt and uncle in Delirium and even between Lena and her cured sister. The lack of emotion was chilling. Although Hana isn’t a lifeless narrator, it’s still not easy reading from her cured POV, either. I get that Oliver wanted to juxtapose rebel Lena and cured Hana’s stories, but it just didn’t work for me.

For a series built around the freedom to love, there wasn’t much revolting, resisting, or rebelling going on until almost the end of the book. And there was one word beginning with “R” that was conspicuously lacking in the novel: romance! Lena’s little love triangle conundrum was referenced a few times, but it certainly wasn’t the focal point that I’d expected it to be. Speaking of Lena, I was disappointed with her character in this one. Where is the Lena from Pandemonium who helped Julian Fineman escape the New York City subway tunnels and who beat the crap out of anyone who messed with her? Well, she’s not the Lena who’s in Requiem, that’s for sure. This Lena is sort of mopey, freezes up during a tense situation more than once, and just doesn’t have Pandemonium Lena’s fire.

I feel like I skimmed most of Requiem because it never really engaged my attention. Because the previous books had ended so memorably, I’d hoped that an unforgettable conclusion would salvage Requiem for me. Nope. I’m not one for rah-rah inspirational messages, especially as a final impression. The strength of this book, as it always has been throughout the series, is Oliver’s writing, and so I’m giving this three stars. If I were basing the rating on how much I enjoyed the book and the amount of closure it gave, two and a half stars would be more accurate.

All in All:

Although I’ve never been a diehard fan of this series, I was invested enough to find Requiem a rather large letdown, particularly Lena’s character regression. Everything that I loved about the second book, Pandemonium, was missing here, from the action to the romance to the kick-ass version of Lena. This wasn’t the finale that I’d envisioned, but that’s just me.

Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Before I Fall
By Lauren Oliver
Publisher: Harper

To Sum It Up:

Samantha Kingston is one of the most popular girls in school, and she knows it. Together with her best friends Lindsay, Elody, and Ally, the foursome rules Thomas Jefferson High School. But everything about life that Sam took for granted abruptly loses its meaning on the way home from a party one night. Forced to relive the last day of her life for a week, Sam gets an unflinching look at the kind of person she was and how she treated people. With this insight into how others perceived her, she has the chance to try and right some of the wrongs in her past, if she chooses to do so.

Review:

Having read and enjoyed Lauren Oliver’s Delirium and Pandemonium, I was very eager to check out her contemporary novel, Before I Fall. I shouldn’t have been surprised to find it every bit as intense and thought-provoking as her dystopian books, as well as written in her signature, elegant prose. To think that this was Oliver’s debut novel is staggering.

Samantha Kingston starts out as one of the most unlikable protagonists I’ve read about in recent memory. She’s shallow, self-absorbed, and stuck-up. She and her three best friends, Lindsay, Ally, and Elody, exemplify the definition of mean girls. They sneer at everyone because they can. Although Sam isn’t as outwardly aggressive as Lindsay, the ringleader of their little clique, is, guffawing at every vicious remark Lindsay cracks about someone and never speaking out against Lindsay’s bullying doesn’t make Sam much better than her friend. Sam isn’t very nice at home, either, especially to her younger sister, Izzy. The laid-back attitude of Sam’s parents toward their daughter’s behavior really bothered me. They didn’t seem to have much of a problem with her attitude, when she clearly needed a stern lecture at the very least.

As repulsive as I found the actions of Sam and her crew, in particular Lindsay’s determination to make life a living hell for her former friend, Juliet Sykes, this story was absolutely riveting. When Sam first realizes that she’s died, she’s defiant, acknowledging that she’s done some bad things, but did she really deserve this fate because of them? Each time she relives her last day, though, she gains a clearer picture of her true self, the arrogant girl who found the public humiliation of others hilarious and just watched as it happened. Sam also opens her eyes to the type of people her friends really are. But this epiphany isn’t only about seeing Lindsay’s cruelty for what it is and not finding it funny anymore. We learn that despite her friends’ swagger, their lives aren’t as perfect as they would like people to believe they are. Oliver is very careful not to justify the girls’ behavior; she puts forward some possible reasons why they act as they do, but it’s up to the reader to decide what to make of these characters, including Sam. I liked that Oliver gave the reader this freedom and didn’t try to sway you into neatly categorizing a character as good or bad. Although I still didn’t love Sam by the end of the book, I do think that she matured a great deal and learned a huge lesson in compassion.

What I loved most about Before I Fall was how it evoked so many conflicting feelings. I couldn’t stand some of the characters, yet I couldn’t stop reading about them. I usually struggle with books featuring less than likable main characters, and Sam is definitely not your conventional YA heroine, but I was completely absorbed by her attempts to rewrite the final chapter of her life. I’d love to see Lauren Oliver write another contemporary novel; it’s sure to be another gripping read that leaves you a jumble of emotions once you’ve reached the last sentence.

All in All:

Obviously, this is a must-read for any Lauren Oliver fans. I also recommend it if you’re up for a book that challenges its readers to take a good, introspective look at the way in which our words and actions affect the people around us.

Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium (Delirium #2)
By Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperTeen

To Sum It Up: Lena has managed to escape to the Wilds, where the inhabitants do not believe in the cure for amor deliria nervosa. Her freedom has come at a heavy price, though. Life in the Wilds is harsh, but Lena perseveres and gradually finds a place among the Invalids. She even becomes a key part of the resistance movement against those who advocate the cure. The Lena who once looked forward to being rid of the disease known as love is gone, and in her place is the new, tougher Lena who must rely solely on her instincts and constantly think on her feet when her mission for the resistance takes some very unexpected turns.

Review: Middle books in a series are always tricky. In the worst case, there’s little to no plot advancement, and they merely serve to set up the final book. Nothing about Pandemonium falters, however. The action and intensity are relentless. Although I really enjoyed Delirium, it was the kind of book that I could put down for a while without too much hardship whenever life outside of reading called. Not so with Pandemonium—I wanted to read it nonstop from cover to cover because it was just so riveting.

Pandemonium alternates between the past and the present. The “Then” chapters pick up right where Delirium left off, with Lena making it over the border fence and into the Wilds, where she is found by some Invalids and taken back to their settlement to recover from her injuries. The “Now” chapters find Lena living in Brooklyn, New York with other members of the resistance movement. She is on a covert mission to keep tabs on Julian Fineman, whose father is the leader of a pro-cure organization called the DFA (Deliria Free America). Oliver effortlessly switches back and forth between the two time periods and has them converge seamlessly. Her masterful storytelling and lyrical prose continue to astound me.

Lena’s character development in this book was amazing. To think that I found her rather ordinary and a little hard to connect with at the beginning of Delirium. That’s definitely not how I feel about her anymore! I loved how in Pandemonium, she embraced her emotions and recognized how horrible it would have been to be cured. Lena 2.0 is one physically and mentally strong young woman who does not put up with anyone’s nonsense. She is really put through the wringer throughout the novel, and she battles back every time. Her evolution into a warrior of a heroine was my favorite aspect of the book.

This review is going to be on the short side because it’s quite difficult to go into detail about most of the book without revealing spoilers. I will say that if the cliffhanger in Delirium left you screaming with frustration, then you’d better steel yourself now for what happens on the last page of Pandemonium. Oliver is both a genius and a little unkind when she writes these endings that leave you an emotional wreck and yelling at your book, “Noooooo. That did not just happen! It can’t just end like that!” Lena has some tough decisions ahead of her, and that’s putting it mildly. I don’t even know what choices I would like to see her make. Requiem looks like it’s going to be one electrifying conclusion to the series, and I can’t wait to see how Lauren Oliver surprises me this time.

All in All: Pandemonium was a thrilling read that packed an even heavier punch than its predecessor, Delirium, did. There’s no need to worry about the series losing steam here; the fireworks are almost nonstop, culminating in a bombshell of an ending.

Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium (Delirium #1)
By Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperCollins

To Sum It Up: The discovery that love is a disease has led scientists to develop a cure for it. Lena Haloway will soon be eighteen, the age at which she will be old enough to undergo the procedure that eradicates amor deliria nervosa. At first, Lena is looking forward to being safe from the effects of this horrible condition. The last thing that she ever expects to do is fall in love, but when it happens, Lena will do anything to avoid being “cured.”

Review: The world that Lauren Oliver creates in Delirium is terrifying. Well, it gave me a good scare, at least. What haunted me the most about this particular dystopian society was how the “cure” for love affected relationships. Couples do not marry for love; they are matched based on government evaluations of each individual, which take place shortly before undergoing the procedure. Lena’s aunt and uncle, with whom she lives, show little more than a polite interest in one another’s conversation at the dinner table. Even more disturbing is how mothers, including Lena’s sister, Rachel, seem to just go through the motions with their children. They possess enough maternal instinct to provide basic care for their offspring, but they’re emotionally detached from them. I found this both appalling and tragic.

For me, the best part of this book was the world-building. Oliver’s writing style perfectly captures the sense of fear and suffocation that this society, in which routine patrols are made to check that no one is displaying too much affection, evokes. I liked how Oliver cleverly reinforced this vision by placing excerpts from this world’s literary works, such as The Book of Shhh, at the beginning of each chapter.

Lena took a while to grow on me as a heroine. Given what happened to her mother, who underwent the procedure three times and still wasn’t cured, and the fact that she’s always been taught that love is something to be eliminated, I can’t fault Lena for initially welcoming the cure. I truly began to root for her once Alex entered the picture, and she realized that there was so much more to life than what she’d been led to believe.

The growing attraction between Lena and Alex develops at a very believable pace. I’m not into insta-love and was relieved that it didn’t turn up here. I really liked Alex and hope to find out more about his role with the other Invalids, those who live outside of governmental jurisdiction and don’t believe in being cured, in the next book. And I’ll definitely be reading the next book.

All in All: If my stack of library books hadn’t already been so tall, I would have borrowed the sequel, Pandemonium, right away. I really need to know how the requisite cliffhanger in Delirium gets resolved!