When I came across a post on FB that a family was moving out of Qatar and they were giving away their books at a lower price, I immediately gave them a call. I got quite a few books at a really good price. This is how I got Delirium. The synopsis looked good and I picked it up. But it was only the first book in a series. Only later did I come to know that it was part of a series. Thankfully I had not started reading it.
Few months later, I had forgotten about it. Then one day while I was browsing through the library, I found all 3 books in the series just sitting there calling my name. I immediately checked them out and came home really happy that I can finally read them. Of course if I hadn’t found them at the library, I would have eventually bought them since the story line sounded really interesting.
Now on to the book. Can you imagine a world without love? I really can’t. The whole world revolves around love. Don’t you think so? It could be love for your better half or for your parents or children or family or friends or just a stranger who helped you out. I don’t think we can survive long without love.
Lauren Oliver introduces us to a world where love is forbidden. Love is seen as a disease called Amor deliria nervosa. Everyone gets Cured with a procedure at the age of eighteen so that they don’t catch it. Lena has looked forward to the procedure her whole life. Her friend Hana was the rebellious kind who went to night parties after curfew and listened to banned music.
However, a few months before the procedure, Lena falls in love with Alex who is an Invalid (a person who lives in the Wilds and has not taken the Cure).
The change in Lena’s character as she falls in love is written so well that we don’t even notice it. When we read the book we realize along with Lena that without love, there is no empathy or appreciation or worry. Love is the basis for all this. She sees how different the world becomes when there is love. By the end of the book, she decides to flee with Alex but he sacrifices himself so that Lena can escape.
In the second book, Pandemonium, Lena is in the Wilds part of a rebellion that wants to stop the Cure. She meets Julian, who is the leader of youth division of Deliria Free America. Again we see the transformation in Julian who starts to realize and believe that deliria is not a disease to be afraid of. Julian is a character who I sympathized with. He starts to understand love because of Lena and falls for her. But it’s quite obvious that even if she does think she likes Julian, her heart is with Alex. I felt this book was stretched and some incidents deliberately happened so that Lena would be with Julian. Alex escapes and returns back to find Lena in the arms of Julian.
The third book Requiem gives us the story from Hana’s POV too. She is cured and we also get a glimpse of her betrayal. This was something that took me by surprise. I had not expected that. Again Lena is confused between Alex and Julian. I did not have much of a confusion. As I said, it was quite obvious that both Alex and Julian loved Lena. But she would always choose Alex. I felt she was leading Julian unnecessarily just to spite Alex. There were other incidents too like the Invalids getting stronger as a group.
One thing I did not like is how it ended. I need closure in my books. I hate open ended books. The book leaves us hanging and I guess we can decide how we would like it to end. But for me that is a put off. When the book ended, I was like why are there no more chapters. I did not even realize that it had ended. We don’t even get to know whether Lena chooses to be with Alex or Julian or she just doesn’t want to be with anyone.
All in all, it was a good read. I devoured all 3 books. It took me 4-5 days to read them all. I loved the world building. Definitely good for a one time read. My rating is 4⭐ out of 5.
