Review'd: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Book Review:
Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Published: February 1st 2011 by Harper Teen
Rating: 5 Stars


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 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.


DeLibrarie (Nichole) Review:
For as long as this book is, it's one of the quickest reads I have ever experienced. Even though several months go by in the book, it feels like it happens much faster. I think that this is because there is so much happening and so much that the main character (and thus the reader) is looking forward to/dreading which in turn makes the reader want to get to each of those points to see what happens. One thing leads to another and you just want to keep going.
Oliver is also really good at pulling the reader in so that you feel what the main character feels. You grow attached to her, her friends, her life... The other day I was missing her best friend because I felt like she was my best friend. It was beautifully written and incredibly relateable.
The relationships (mainly Lena's and ********* - I won't give his name away in case you haven't read it yet, but her main love interest to say the least) are also really believeable and relateable. You fall in love with her love interest just as she does and, to say the least, you get heartbroken just as much as she does throughout the story.
The descriptions were wonderful because I saw the stars at night, I heard the ocean waves in the afternoons, and I smelt the overwhelming stench of the Crypts as if I were Lena.
While this could be an incredibly deep, meaningful story, I'm glad it's slightly more of a fluff read because it makes it more approachable to a wider audience. That is not to say that it is not deep or meaningful, it is, I'm simply saying that it focuses more on Lena's relationship and her experiences instead of the idea or world-wide consequences of a dystopic world such as Oliver presents.