'Holy Crap' Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Synopsis:
I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Review:
Wow. Just wow. I'm not sure how to even review this one. If you loved Delirium . . . you will die over this one. So great!! My whole review could easily just be me finding new ways to say how awesome it is. I'll try to form a few coherent thoughts though :)

The book is told in flashbacks to 'Then' alternated with the 'Now' things that are currently taking place for Lena. Eventually they merge together and it all just builds and builds for an ending that is hard to beat. Maybe my most 'holy flippin' crap' moment in a book. I'm still in book-shock.

As always, Lauren Oliver's writing is killer. Painfully beautiful and full of meaning. Seriously, I felt like my heart was going to burst from all of the emotions I was simultaneously feeling while reading it. I love this book and will probably badger my friends and family without cease until they read this series.

Publication Date: February 28, 2012
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Source: This book was lent to me :)

Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

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 governments 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.

Review:
Holy crap! This book slayed my soul. But in a good way. The descriptions are so painfully meaningful and poetically written. After finishing it, I am dumbfounded and it is consuming all my thoughts.

The premise is that love is a disease. Lucky for the whole population, a cure was found and can be administered at the age of 18. Lena has gone through life longing for the cure. After she meets Alex (ahhh . . . Alex) she sees the world in a completely new way. She realizes that the cure is really just a shroud of apathy that helps everybody conform to the lifeless world around them. Love breathes new life into her and she can never be the same.

Alex is so sweet and achingly real. I'm kind of in love with him ;-)

I think I might have died a little when I realized I have to wait until March for the next book. Although sometimes the wait makes it even better, right?

Publication Date: February 1, 2011
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Source: My own tower of books.