Simran Bagdiya's review of Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium by Lauren Oliver Review

“Sometimes I swear that just for a second time freezes and the world pauses in its tilt. Just for a second. And if you somehow found a way to live in that second, then you would live forever."

Summary

In an alternate version of the United States, love is a dangerous, deadly disease. Fortunately, the government has found a cure. After one’s eighteenth birthday, everyone must get the cure.

Living in Portland, Maine, Lena Haloway is eagerly looking forward to getting the cure, and living a safe life. Ever since “the disease” destroyed her mother years ago, Lena promised herself that she would never commit the same mistake.

However, soon enough, Lena meets Alex, a boy from the Wilds. Alex shows Lena how to experience the world through a different lens, causing her to completely change her perspective about life, and everything she has grown to believe in.

What will happen if they do the unthinkable.... And fall in love???

My Opinion

In general, I think that the book had a pretty interesting concept, as it combined the idea of love and disease. In fact, Lauren Oliver (the author), mentioned that she got the idea for this book when she was at the gym. She had recently read a Gabriel Garcia Márquez essay about how all books are based on the idea of love and death. Since Lauren Oliver’s first book (Before I Fall) revolved around death, she wanted to center this book around love. At the gym, Lauren was watching a news story about an pandemic, and says that the two ideas of love and disease combined in her head to form the Delirium trilogy. Overall, the plot and the characters were well-written, and it was a cohesive novel.

The only downside for me was that there was such an initial hype about how awesome, amazing, and fantastic this book was, that it actually didn’t feel that great when I was reading it. Sure, it was an enjoyable book, but definitely not “one of the best books I’ve ever read”.

So, if you want to read a book with action and adventure (it is a dystopia, after all), as well as some romance (don’t worry, the book focuses on friends and family too), then this would be the book for you!

Final Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Simran Bagdiya