Friday, June 17, 2011

Delirium - Lauren Oliver

Continuing to feed my fascination with YA dystopian fiction, I picked up Lauren Oliver's latest book Delirium - the first in a planned trilogy.

Lena Holoway is happily counting down the days to her 18th birthday. Happy, because she will then undergo the government ordered procedure to be cured and therefore safe. Safe from....love. Because in her world, love is a disease that causes delirium.  And without this disease, your life will be safe,  predictable, and happy. Lena will then be paired with a suitable candidate and married when she finishes the schooling chosen for her.

And, all is going to plan, until she meets Alex. Alex is 19...and he is an 'invalid'. Invalids are those who have not had the cure and live outside the electrifed fences of the cities in The Wilds. Alex is living inside the fence, pretending to be a citizen of the city.  And, yep you guessed it...Lena and Alex fall in love.

I'll leave you to imagine where the tale heads next.  Delirium lacks the excitement and tenseness of  The Hunger Games, but has more action than Matched. The story borrows from Shakespeare to a certain degree. I'm not thrilled with the ending, but as always, I just can't wait to see what's out there in The Wilds.


For those who enjoy this genre - a must. Read an excerpt of Delirium. Or listen to an excerpt.

1 comment:

bermudaonion said...

I keep reading great reviews of Lauren Olivier's books. I need to try one!