I’ve just finished reading Requiem, the final book in the young adult series, Delirium, by Lauren Oliver. The main character, Lena, lives in a world where love is considered a disease—the deliria—the source of all unhappiness and negative emotions, including anger, pain, jealously and hate. Scientists have found a cure for love, and the controlling government seeks to eradicate the deliria by forcing all citizens to be cured at age 18. Despite looking forward to being ‘cured’, Lena does the unthinkable and falls in love before she can undergo the procedure, and then must deal with the dangers she faces.
Set against a controlling dystopian society, those who want to live freely are forced to fight against eradication. In this final novel, Requiem, Lauren Oliver adds the narrative voice of Lena’s friend, Hana. Hana’s contrasting perspective proves critical to the success of the series conclusion, allowing us to follow events both inside and outside the government’s jurisdiction, and enabling the story to build steadily and convincingly to its ultimate ending.
Oliver is a talented writer, able to describe elements of nature or the bleakness of the city in ways that create a sharp picture in the mind’s eye, without detracting from the momentum of the novel. A disused parking structure takes on a new form when portrayed as a ‘massive cement honeycomb structure’, while my favourite image is the one Oliver gives to a landscape of night wilderness highlighted by a ‘slalom of trees’; immediately I could picture the bare winter trees, staggered and stark in the moonlight.
Cereal Readers gives the ‘Delirium‘ series five spoons. A well-paced and thought-provoking read that doesn’t shy from the difficult issues of choice and love.
This book seems to speak not only to young adults, but older ones too. I was immediately drawn to the character Hanna's explanation, that experiencing unhappiness can help a person to more fully appreciate and understand happiness. As we get older, this point is often brought home, yet can escape our minds until we are prompted by a talented author to reflect on such matters. I'm looking forward to reading 'Delirium' myself and sharing it with my girls.
As a mother of 2 girls I am really enjoying reading the books my girls are reading. Together we are exploring interesting ideas and new worlds! I’ve found many of our favourite books listed on Cereal Readers, and the site’s particularly useful for me, as it loads me up with ideas for books down the track and allows me to keep a few books ahead of my two prolific readers!
Mary