Book Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Okay, first of all, I'm a sucker for some good dystopian fiction. I've read quite alot of it, some good and some bad, and let me tell you, something magical always seems to happen when you combine a crazy dystopian future with a forbidden romance. Delirium nailed that right on the head. The book also provides readers with lots of food for thought, making very convincing arguments for both the society and the outsiders. I found that to be really refreshing, seeing as most dystopian novels I've read clearly sway towards one way of thinking or the other. In Delirium, we see our main character sympathizing and understanding both sides.
The book takes us straight into a future where love, or "deliria nervosa", is considered a disease that is curable via a mandatory vaccine at the ripe age of 18. The idea may seem a bit far fetched, but some brilliant points are made about love and the state of madness that encompasses it. The society revolves around the belief that love is the deadliest of all things, because it "...kills you both when you have it and when you don't." (Page 4). Its a long jump from where we are today, but I think that any of us who've ever been in love can understand the logic, however twisted, that this society has adopted.
Throughout the book, we get to see our main character evolve from anxiously awaiting her cure to risking her life for love. The romance is poetic and absolutely beautiful, the book is extremely well written, and the society is fully developed and explained. Lauren Oliver may very well be one of my new favorite authors. I give this book a well deserved 5 stars and would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat.
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