Delirium by Lauren Oliver

 my rating: 4/5 stars

SYNOPSIS:  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 government 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 Review: I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this book. Going into it, I was expecting something amazing (I need to stop doing that!) and by the end of the book...I was left feeling not as amazed as I wanted to. The plot and the dystopian world Ms. Oliver created was original and intriguing and the writing was fantastic, but the beginning of this book was so slow for me! It honestly took me about 180 pages into the book before I finally was into it. Not good!

Unfortunately, the love interest was also a bit dull for me as well. I love me some swooning, adorable boy (who doesn't?) but Alex was so blah! He had his cute moments here and there but they were nothing spectacular, and for some reason I had trouble believing Lena and Alex really loved each other. Lena on the other hand was a hoot! I really enjoyed getting in her head and watching how she developed as a character. The pacing between being a good, law-abiding citizen to becoming and Invalid for her was spot on. I hate it when authors don't allow enough time for their characters to develop and change, but Oliver did a fantastic job of that. Hana was another great character, and I am really interested in reading her story in Hana (Delirium 1.5). No matter what, she always had Lena's back, and she was such an admirable individual. 

The reason why I decided to give this book a 4 star rating instead of a 3 or 3.5 was because by the second half of the book, the story got really good! Especially the ending, oh the ending! I won't give away any details, but sweet Jesus, that was an ending! I have heard from many people that Pandemonium is quite the sequel, so I'll have to dig into that one soon. This being the first Lauren Oliver book I have read, I am very impressed. This book didn't blow me away by any means, but it was definitely worth reading.