Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Summary Provided by Goodreads:

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.

My Thoughts:

What led me to read this book was the amazing reviews I kept reading about it. It only took me a few hours to read and I really enjoyed it. There was one thing I hated and it happened at the very end. I don’t want to give anything away so I am not going to say what it was. Other then that, I thought the story was well-written and original. I love the dedication from Lauren Oliver, I thought it was beautiful.

I really liked the world that Oliver created in Delirium, besides the fact that it was terrifying, it also felt so real. The main character, Lena lives in a world where amor deliria nervosa is a very dangerous disease. People who are affected by it experience headaches, sweats, delusions, they stop eating and sleeping, and some people suffer so bad that they commit suicide from the pain. The government has made falling in love illegal, and if a person does not follow the rules (according to The Book of Shhh) then they are tortured and killed. Once a person turns 18, they get the “procedure”-rendering them unable to have any feelings or emotions and basically live blindly through life, almost like a lobotomy.

I really liked the character of Lena. She was so afraid to fall in love and end up like her mom, who killed herself, that she could not wait to get the procedure done and live her life exactly the way the government tells her to. That’s right-not only does the government take away your thought process and feelings, they also tell you who you are going to marry, how much money you are going to make, what you will do for a living, and how many children you will have.  Lena eventually meets Alex, who I absolutely loved! Alex shows her what it means to actually be a person who has their own thoughts and emotions. He opened Lena’s eyes to a whole new world, and I loved watching them fall in love.

This story makes you think about love and what it means to be in love. As much pain as love actually does cause a person, it is something that everybody needs. 

Love, Kristina