"Pandemonium" by Lauren Oliver

PANDEMONIUM 
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
Published: 2012

SYNOPSIS

Lena's been to the very edge. She's questioned love and the life-changing and agonising choices that come with it. She's made her decision. But can she survive the consequences?

REVIEW

I think this is the very first time that I've loved a second book more than the first one - it was absolutely stunning and the development was amazing. In the first book you were just getting to know Lena and she was growing but in Pandemonium you felt as though she'd got a lot stronger than she was and she became the kick-ass character that she was always bound to be. In fact all of the characters were amazing I thought and they all had a lot of depth to them as they weren't all obviously stereotypical people who you could guess what they would be like.

The plot was rather predictable at times, but this is one of those times where predictability is a good thing. Although you knew what was going to happen to a certain extent it was still quite shocking to read and kept the tension up all the way through the book. In Delirium I found Oliver's writing to be too descriptive and I felt as though if she'd toned down the wordiness of the novel it would have been better - this was the main thing I noticed that had changed in Pandemonium; it got to the point without being too vague, it got enough description but not the ridiculous amount like in the first book.

As stated before, the twists were quite predictable but the end, oh my goodness, the end. I was not expecting what I was reading for the first time throughout the book and when it was getting to the climax of the book I can honestly say that I was shocked at what happened. I was so excited reading this book, that for the first time I wanted to read the third one straight away - but to my dismay I have to wait until March 2013 which well and truly is awful.

Lauren Oliver, you are evil and yet amazingly talented to leave me hanging like that!

★★★★★

"Delirium" by Lauren Oliver

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

Again, I'd heard mixed reviews on ∫Delirium, so I was extremely keen to check it out and give my viewpoint. I don't really know what I was expecting, other than something a little too 'lovey dovey' for my likings - I was proven very wrong.

There was once a time when love was prominent around the human species and now it is considered a contagious disease that goes by the name of'amor deliria nervosa'. In the world, it is wrong to feel affection towards another human being and at the age of 18 everyone gets a 'cure' to make sure they never contract the deadly disease of love. Lena is more than content to live by the rules and looks forward to the operation where upon she will be safe - until she meets Alex.

This book really reminded me of a deeper version of the Uglies series, just in the way it's about a girl who is more than happy with society until something happens and she wants to rebel. Nothing wrong with the comparison whatsoever as both books are equally as good as the other - Delirium just seems to have a lot more of a deeper meaning, however, it cuts to the core with a lot more force. There are a lot of subtly deep messages lying in this book to do with love and being yourself that relate to the world we live in now, they have been cleverly crafted into this book in a way that makes them seem like lessons to be learned as well as creating the wonderful story.

The writing was a little too wordy for my likings, everything was described a little too much. Great description is one thing, but describing something for no reason at all is another. I found myself being swamped in metaphors and similes that weren't entirely necessary and I think the book would have been a lot shorter had they been cut down a lot. Other than that I found the writing to be enthralling and  a lot of the time I was unable to put this book down as it was easy to read, well paced with a rich storyline - It was a bit predictable with the twists and turns but with a 'forbidden romance' kind of book it's generally always predictable.

I related to Lena in every way possible, she's pretty much me - from personality right down to the looks (give an inch in height) - I guess this is why I could sympathise with her so much. I believe there was the right amount of progression of her falling in love as there could be in a book with regards to her personality as well. Being insecure, doubting herself, doubting Alex, being worried about the system; these are all the great ways that Lauren Oliver built up to the idea of Lena even liking Alex, let alone the big 'L' word. Alex was every other male lead thinking about it, there was nothing special about him, he did pretty much the same as any other lead who likes a girl does in a book so there's not really much to say on his part, and due to this, it made their romance slightly stereotypical.

The storyline was brilliant in the way it made you think. I was constantly imagining myself in that environment and feeling a sympathy towards Lena in the way that I don't think I could live in a society like that. I was comparing it to life now and how things would change if it were like that in the present day. The actual content of the book was good, even if it just ticked all the boxes of a general story and everything seemed to happen at the right time without longing anything out too much.

Overall I loved this book but the writing and the overly long unnecessary descriptions put a slight downer on it. This has definitely, however, left me thinking a lot about the world we live in and that we shouldn't just take what we have for granted. This book highlights an aspect of what life is about in my opinion and I know I wouldn't want to give that up.

★★★★