Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Title: Requiem
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: Hodder
Released: January 1st 2013
Pages: 391 (Paperback)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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The final instalment in the internationally bestselling Delirium trilogy.

It is the rule of the Wilds:
You must be bigger, and stronger, and tougher.
A coldness radiates through me, a solid wall that is growing, piece by piece, in my chest. He doesn't love me?
He never loved me.
It was all a lie.

'The old Lena is dead', I say, and then push past him. Each step is more difficult than the last; the heaviness fills me and turns my limbs to stone.

You must hurt, or be hurt.

Lena can build the walls, but what if there's no one left to take them down? The powerful, heartbreaking conclusion to one of the most eagerly awaited, talked-about series is here

*makes incomprehensible sounds* I really really really hate it when an amazing trilogy comes to an end! I was definitely avoiding reading this book - part of me wanted to simply because Pandemonium left me on such a horrid cliffhanger, but part of me didn't want to as I adore this series like crazy! However, when I found out that it had finally been published in the UK, I couldn't help but buy it and read it immediately. It took me two days to finish it, and now I just don't know what to think.

A lot has changed since Lena met Alex. After the riots, things have been intense, both in Zombieland and in the Wilds. In Hana's world, she has been "cured" and is now preparing to wed the new mayor of Portland; in Lena's world, she's desperately trying to figure out her feelings between the two men in her life, as well as trying to help aid the resistence. Everything is about to come to a head, and the former best friends are on either side of the fight. This is it - but will it be the end or the beginning?

HANA'S BACK! Considering she wasn't in Pandemonium and I read Delirium well over a year ago, I forgot how much I loved her spunky nature. Don't you love it in series' when a character makes a reappearance? Immediately, this fact kicked my love for Requiem up a knotch. Well, that and the fact that ALEX IS BACK! In my review of Pandemonium, I expressed my guilt at liking Julian when I have always been Team Alex. Requiem restored my love of him - however, this time it definitely wasn't down to characterisation, which was incredibly poor. That's one thing I did have a major problem with. Although these novels have always been leading up to some kind of revolution, Oliver concentrated a lot of the different romantic relationships between the characters - and rightly so, considering that this dystopian future is centered around love being a disease. You don't get that so much in this book. To be honest, if this was a stand-alone book and I didn't have any prior knowledge as to Alex or Julian, I wouldn't be attracted to either of them. In Requiem, they fell flat, and both of them severely annoyed me (which quite upset me considering I adore Alex!)

However, despite my not-quite-dislike of the love interests, I still liked Lena. Heck, have I ever not liked her? Over the course of these three books, the reader has watched her evolve and change from a scared little girl into a fearless young woman. Lena is badass, there is no question about it, and her chapters kept me rivetted to the spot I was so engrossed! Oliver may not have quite reached the mark with the characterisation in this book, but the fight scenes and action sequences were, as always, of immence quality.

In a weird way, reading Requiem both felt like an ending and didn't at exactly the same time. Yes, it was the ending of a series, but I don't exactly feel closure. There are a lot of questions that have been left unanswered - or answered, but not to a satisfying quality. An example of this - spoiler alert! - is Alex. I'm pretty glad that he was chosen in the end, but it was so rushed! In Delirium, the both of them together sent me into hot flushes they were so intense! Here, I was just completely unaffected. Oliver may as well have written, Oh look there's Alex, Alex I still love you, let's kiss and then skip off into the sunset. Yeah. It was that bad.

Despite my slight disappointment at the lack of chemistry in this book and poor characterisation, I still love Oliver as an author. This isn't her best work, not by far - but I still believe she is an incredibly talented author, and this trilogy is proof of it. It's a breathtaking concept to begin with, and for the most part, she delivered it beautifully. If you like young adult novels and haven't read this series yet, then there is seriously something wrong with you. JOKING! Well, sort of. Every teenage girl should read this - it is unlike anything I've read before, and it will certainly be in my memory for a very long time to come.
Rating: 4/5