Book Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
- nikki_p
- Posts: 59
- Joined: 12 May 2014, 20:42
- Favorite Book: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Currently Reading: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-nikki-p.html
Book Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver
At first I didn’t get drawn into this book as much as I would hope. The plot was just AMAZING, yet the writing felt so juvenile at times that I felt bored. There were parts in the beginning when Alex would hint that he wanted to meet Lena somewhere, and I’d be like “neat.” But then she’d blab on a whole paragraph trying to figure out what he was telling her and then another paragraph saying things like “He. Is. Giving. Me. A. Signal.” and I’m just like, “congratulations, you finally figured it out.” I don’t know, I just didn’t like how everything was being spelled out to me like I was an idiot that didn’t know how to read between the lines. I mean, yes this is YA but come on, I don’t think I’ve ever read another young adult novel that repeatedly made me feel like I was reading juvenile fiction as much as this one.
First impression aside though, I became pretty hooked. After losing interest in the first few chapters, I picked it up again and realized that this book is actually not that bad. I love the story line and I love the characters. My favorite character is Hana because she is described as such a sunny person, and I love sunny people. She sounds like the embodiment of sunshine. I’m also really interested in how Lena’s mother will turn out, along with Gracie. It might be odd that two of my favorite characters are the most mysterious ones, but I guess that’s why I am attracted to them.
To be honest, as much as I did EVENTUALLY enjoy the book, there are still quite a few things that bothered me, specifically the fact that it sounds like a compilation of many other movies and books I have read before. First of all, the scene with Lena and Alex felt very “Twilight” to me. She kept describing him as a statue carved out of stone, and the way she described how she felt for him reminded me almost painfully of how Bella felt for Edward. Then again, I think she is a bit more justified considering she was taught her whole life that those feelings were literally a disease, illegal, and should be avoided at all cost. So overall, it honestly was an intense experience for her, so I forgive the “Twilight-ness” of their relationship. Secondly, the emphasis on the scars on their necks due to the surgery reminded me of another novel by Stephanie Meyer, “The Host”. And lastly, the entire plot itself was like a teenage version of “Equilibrium”, which is actually one of my favorite movies.
Overall, I love dystopian stories, and I love romance, and I guess I enjoyed the book. I am going to continue on with the series out of interest and curiosity about what happens next. I’m not in a rush to go out and buy the next book, which is saying something. I’m rating it four stars because well, I just liked it. I didn’t love it, I’m not obsessed with it, it’s simply okay.
- littlebook
- Posts: 85
- Joined: 10 Aug 2014, 01:38
- Favorite Book: Will Grayson Will Grayson
- Bookshelf Size: 1
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-littlebook.html
- Latest Review: "River of Fire" by Darrell Case
- BadrQamra
- Posts: 20
- Joined: 26 Aug 2014, 06:32
- Bookshelf Size: 1
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-badrqamra.html
- Latest Review: "Warm Front" by Mark A. York
-
- Posts: 99
- Joined: 14 Sep 2014, 18:16
- Bookshelf Size: 8
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-courtney-whittamore.html
- Latest Review: "The Farewell Season" by Ann Herrick
-
- Posts: 17
- Joined: 15 Sep 2014, 20:22
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-mkostecki11.html
- sophie_mcmaster
- Posts: 29
- Joined: 11 Oct 2014, 10:42
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 26
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-sophie-mcmaster.html
Sophie McMaster
-
- Posts: 13
- Joined: 10 Nov 2014, 22:18
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Beloved2615
- Posts: 14
- Joined: 25 Nov 2014, 18:50
- Favorite Book: Withering Heights
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- elovesbooks
- Posts: 8
- Joined: 11 Jan 2015, 17:24
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-elovesbooks.html
-
- Posts: 687
- Joined: 27 Feb 2015, 21:49
- Favorite Book: Twilight and The Last Song
- Currently Reading: Bluewater Walkabout
- Bookshelf Size: 706
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-csimmons032.html
- Latest Review: "Book Blueprint" by Jacqui Pretty
- Madisonpearce
- Posts: 2
- Joined: 20 Jun 2015, 13:29
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- krood10
- Posts: 29
- Joined: 04 Dec 2014, 09:49
- Currently Reading: gray wolf throne
- Bookshelf Size: 15
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-krood10.html
- Latest Review: "Audiobooks.com Book of your Choice" by Audiobooks
- Kali0925
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 25 Jun 2015, 08:38
- Currently Reading: Noru 4: When Angels Break
- Bookshelf Size: 17
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-kali0925.html
- xShreyaPandeyx
- Posts: 7
- Joined: 12 May 2016, 02:03
- Bookshelf Size: 10
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-xshreyapandeyx.html
I love, love, love this book. I'm not a huge fan of the trilogy as a whole, but the first book in the series, happens to be one of my favorite YA/Dystopian novels ever. I was drawn to the book immediately. The whole concept of love being a disease and there being a cure, and everything interested me immediately. I loved how the rest of the society was set up around it. Like certain music and books being banned because they glorified love. I loved the patrol system and how people had to deal with impromptu police raids and the whole curfew thing. I really enjoyed the latter part though. My favorite has to be the part when Lana and Alex sneak into the wild through the border and spend the night in a caravan where he reads her poetry. I think I just fell in love when that happened. And damn, that big plot-twist in the end and the terrible cliff-hanger just nearly killed me. I'd read this book a dozen times, no question asked.
- TamSan
- Posts: 30
- Joined: 14 Aug 2016, 13:30
- Bookshelf Size: 239
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-tamsan.html
I agree, it was pretty predictable. The first two books I thought did a great job of setting the story. But the third one left me flat. It just felt like everything was rushed towards the end and I was not at all satisfied with how it ended. The third one completely ruined it for me. I was so sad too, because the other ones were great!littlebook wrote:I have read this entire trilogy. I understand what you mean...it did start off fairly slow. A lot of the events were pretty predictable too. However, the second and third books progressively got better. I did feel a little left out by the cliffhanger at the end of the third one.