Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Title: Delirium (Delirium #1)
Author: Lauren Oliver
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher: Hodder (4th August 2011)
Source: Secret Santa
Blurb:

They say that the cure for love will make me happy and safe forever. And I’ve always believed them.

Until now.

Now everything has changed. Now, I’d rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years suffocated by a lie.

There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. They would tell lies for it. Even kill for it.

Then, at last, they found the cure.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver is the first book in the trilogy of the same name. It tells the story of Magdalena “Lena” Haloway, a girl who is less than a year away from her eighteenth birthday when she will receive the cure for “amor deliria nervosa” – love.

DELIRIUM is a curious book. On the one hand I found the concept of a world where love was considered to be a disease that should be destroyed at all costs a fascinating concept, and it’s what actually made me decide to give the book a try. On the other, I thought the suggestion of a world where love was considered a disease was completely abhorrent. Reading DELIRIUM created an interesting juxtaposition of feelings in me, especially as I read further and discovered that “amor deliria nervosa” wasn’t just referring to romantic love but to all love. Writing this review I am still not entirely sure how I feel about the book, but I do appreciate the creativity behind Oliver’s concept of a dystopian world.

Placing Lena Haloway as the main character in DELIRIUM is a clever choice on Oliver’s part, not least because when we first meet her Lena is looking forward to her eighteenth birthday and the cure. I really liked the journey Oliver took us on through the book, as we see the world through Lena’s eyes and it was fun to watch her grow as a character through the book.

The plot of DELIRIUM was both what I expected from a dystopian book, and something a little different. Oliver does a really great job in setting up the world and its expectations, and there is a definite feeling that  there is more to come from the characters and world. However, I’m not sure I will be reading any more of the trilogy because whilst I really liked the experience of reading DELIRIUM I’m not sure I want to explore the world any further.