Delirium
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4.3 • 82 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.
Lauren Oliver astonished readers with her stunning debut, Before I Fall. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called it "raw, emotional, and, at times, beautiful. An end as brave as it is heartbreaking." Her much-awaited second novel fulfills her promise as an exceptionally talented and versatile writer.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her sophomore novel, Oliver (Before I Fall) presents an intriguing but disappointing thought experiment, set in a dystopian future in which American borders are sealed and civil order is enforced by regulation, vigilantism, and "the procedure," a coming-of-age lobotomy that excises amor deliria nervosa, or love. Nearly 18, Lena Haloway welcomes the prospect; her mother underwent three unsuccessful procedures and eventually committed suicide, so Lena deeply believes that love equals suffering. Still, there's a subversiveness to her thoughts and actions, from nurturing the motherless child Gracie to reading Romeo and Juliet because it is "beautiful," not the cautionary tale it's presented as. When a strange, handsome boy begins to intrude on her life, strictly against the regulations, the "beauty" of that tragic trope begins to play out swiftly and relentlessly. The prose is accomplished, and the Portland, Maine, setting wonderfully evoked. However, Oliver's nightmare future lacks a visceral punch, primarily because of the weakness of the world-building. Her America has undergone a seismic shift, but the economic, religious, and cultural ramifications are all but ignored. Ages 14 up.
Customer Reviews
I luv this book
Delirium is a really irritatingly awesome book. I say this because I'm in love with love and the fact that they classify it as a disease irritates the hell out of me but it is still one of the best books I've ever read I it
Great!
It's a good book even if the ending is tragic.
Wow!
This book was simply beautiful and really makes you step back and look at love, life, and even the government. What they could do and the secrets they keep. *spoiler alert* And seriously, just becuase the book doesnt have a happy ending dont freak out; it almost does becuase of how Lena changes from beginning to end for the better. But really many of the greatest books of all time have tragic endings, dont flip. I LOVED this book.