Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: Hodder
Released: February 1st 2011
Pages: 393 (Paperback)
Buy: Amazon


Ninety-five days, and then I’ll be safe.
I wonder whether the procedure will hurt.
I want to get it over with.
It’s hard to be patient.
It’s hard not to be afraid while I’m still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn’t touched me yet.
Still, I worry.
They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness.
The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don’t.




Oh my. I finished this book a few hours ago, yet I'm still reeling from it. I've had this novel sat on my bookshelf for months, and I honestly cannot believe I haven't come around to it sooner, especially considering I've read Oliver's debut novel, and absolutely fell in love with her characterization and writing skills. From reading Before I Fall, I knew what an amazing author Oliver was - but this completely blew my mind. I haven't read another literary young adult novel that is as well-written as this. If you love dystopian novels like Matched, Bumped and Wither, you will eat this up!

Delirium takes place in a future America where people believe that love - amor deliria nervosa- is a disease that needs to be cured. They believe that it was the cause of wars, poverty and all badness in our current world, and they either kill or lock up those who refuse to cooperate. However, what this society doesn't realize is that although they have caught some, there are still uncured and Invalids roaming their 'safe' city, building up a sort of rebellion to fight back against their rules.

Firstly, I adored the backstory plot - I have read many dystopian novels, and a lot of them have been based around lack of freedom of choice, speech and life, and also a lot where this society has been enclosed - for example, in The Hunger Games and Divergent. But despite reading all of these novels, I have never come across one being mainly about love. I found it an intriguing take on what causes all these problems we currently face, and I liked how Oliver portrayed the cured people - how without the love in them, they appeared as kind-of ghosts, breathing but not living. It was scarily realistic.

Secondly, the characters were amazing. As I said earlier, Oliver has such a talent for creating realistic and interesting characters - for example, Lena, Hana and Alex. At the beginning, you think Lena is a very shy and timid character - but as the novel grows, so does she, and in the end I found her to be a very strong and brave character, who I found I could relate to in some ways. I found I could also relate to her best friend, Hana, who I loved and hated all the way through it - sometimes I wished that I had a friend like her, and other times I felt like slapping her for being so selfish. I think I also liked the fact that they were both very realistic - they weren't overly beautiful (though I suppose Hana was, but not in an unrealistic way) and despite the different eras, I found that they were quite alike teenager's today. The same goes for Alex, who is probably one of the hottest fictional characters I have ever read about. From the way Oliver described it, it was if every feature of hot guy imaginable combined into one, and I honestly adored the scenes between him and Lena. There was so much tension within their exchanges that I practically craved for them; although the whole book was amazing, I especially loved the chapters that included both of them.

Overall, it was such an amazing read, and Pandemonium is out but I have not got it yet! But luckily my birthday is coming up fast, so fingers crossed I might get it? Hint hint hint. But on a serious note, if you haven't read this book, or any of Oliver's other novels, you must go and buy them as soon as possible! They are mindblowingly amazing.
Rating: 5/5