Requiem
Delirium Series #3
Lauren Oliver
March 5, 2013
HarperCollins
Amazon/Book Depository/B&N
Oh wow, this week I listened to the last book in Lauren Oliver's Delirium series and when it was over I was surprisingly ok with the way things were wrapped up. This book was one of the most talked about books online and on twitter. I know I was one of those eagerly chomping at the bit, or book in this case, to get my hands on it. I loved the first book when I listened to it two years ago. I love distopian novels and the very idea of one where love is a disease, How they cured the delirium caused by love was intriguing. How do I write more about what I love about this book, or this series, without giving away spoilers? I don't think I can, so if you don't want to know anything or haven't read any of the books in the series then stop here and read no further.
Requiem picks up right at the end of where Pandemonium left off with Alex not being dead, but alive, and he is hurting because he thinks Lena has moved on with Julian. There was one scene in the book that almost broke my heart because I am team Alex and that is when Lena is able to finally get Alex alone and they have a horrible fight. Words are spoken and hearts, including mine, were bruised if not broken. The roller coaster ride of emotions were at an all time high. I think this scene and the fact that Lena and Hannah were both narrating is what really brings the other side of the delirium issue home and as a reader I can connect with "the zombies" as well.
In the first book we see Lena fall in love and then lose that love in such a tragic way. But we see her pick up the pieces and try to get on their is hope in the second book. In the second book she has to protect herself because she is filled with grief and guilt. There is hope, but then Alex comes back and her mom is alive and we think everything will be ok, but it's not because there is hurt and anger then people change and move on. That is what I like about Lauren Oliver's writing, it is real and they don't call right into each others arms because it is always the people you love the most that you hurt the most. For Hannah, Lena's best friend we find out that through her own jealousness she was the one that gave Lena and Alex's location away and has always felt guilty about that. She has now had the procedure and is cured. I think I can sympathize with that side as well, because while people should have the right to choose love, I can see how not feeling, not caring, would seem like the answer too. Hannah's procedure doesn't work exactly like it's supposed to because when you love and betray that love, these feelings become a part of your soul and are not easily wiped away. Even in our own society where terrorists can cause the death of thousands I can see the appeal of building barriers and trying to find cures against that kind of passion. Faith and love can make people do crazy things.
That is what I loved about this book, that Lauren Oliver explored both sides of the issue in a beautiful and poetic way. I felt that while the ending seem lacking to some, I felt it was full of hope. I felt like both sides, the diseased and the cured, were not wrong. The issue is about choice and cutting yourself off and living life to the fullest. And as the book says, knock down those walls and those barriers even if it is just one person at a time. Everyone has the right to love or not to love.
The audiobook is narrated by Sarah Drew and she voiced all three books in the series. Sarah is an actress and has been on shows like Grey's Anatomy. I think she does a fantastic job as the narrator. She really made the book come alive for me. Her narration of the Alex and Lena scene really gave that dramatic impact that just pushed into heart breaking for me. I could really see those two characters in the woods yelling at each other and the tears streaming down Lena's face because Ms. Drew sounded like she was crying as she voiced a sobbing Lena. I highly recommend not only reading Requiem, but listening to it as well because their is nothing that really brings a book alive like a narrator who loves the story they are voice acting as much as the obsessed fans, like me.
I give Requiem the audiobook five laser pistols because it really is a supernova.
Delirium Series #3
Lauren Oliver
March 5, 2013
HarperCollins
Amazon/Book Depository/B&N
Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has transformed. The nascent rebellion that was underway in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.
After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven. Pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels.
As Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain of the Wilds, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena and Hana's points of view. They live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.
With lyrical writing, Lauren Oliver seamlessly interweaves the peril that Lena faces with the inner tumult she experiences after the reappearance of her first love, Alex, the boy she thought was dead. Sophisticated and wide-ranging, Requiem brings the Delirium trilogy to a thrilling conclusion.
Oh wow, this week I listened to the last book in Lauren Oliver's Delirium series and when it was over I was surprisingly ok with the way things were wrapped up. This book was one of the most talked about books online and on twitter. I know I was one of those eagerly chomping at the bit, or book in this case, to get my hands on it. I loved the first book when I listened to it two years ago. I love distopian novels and the very idea of one where love is a disease, How they cured the delirium caused by love was intriguing. How do I write more about what I love about this book, or this series, without giving away spoilers? I don't think I can, so if you don't want to know anything or haven't read any of the books in the series then stop here and read no further.
Requiem picks up right at the end of where Pandemonium left off with Alex not being dead, but alive, and he is hurting because he thinks Lena has moved on with Julian. There was one scene in the book that almost broke my heart because I am team Alex and that is when Lena is able to finally get Alex alone and they have a horrible fight. Words are spoken and hearts, including mine, were bruised if not broken. The roller coaster ride of emotions were at an all time high. I think this scene and the fact that Lena and Hannah were both narrating is what really brings the other side of the delirium issue home and as a reader I can connect with "the zombies" as well.
In the first book we see Lena fall in love and then lose that love in such a tragic way. But we see her pick up the pieces and try to get on their is hope in the second book. In the second book she has to protect herself because she is filled with grief and guilt. There is hope, but then Alex comes back and her mom is alive and we think everything will be ok, but it's not because there is hurt and anger then people change and move on. That is what I like about Lauren Oliver's writing, it is real and they don't call right into each others arms because it is always the people you love the most that you hurt the most. For Hannah, Lena's best friend we find out that through her own jealousness she was the one that gave Lena and Alex's location away and has always felt guilty about that. She has now had the procedure and is cured. I think I can sympathize with that side as well, because while people should have the right to choose love, I can see how not feeling, not caring, would seem like the answer too. Hannah's procedure doesn't work exactly like it's supposed to because when you love and betray that love, these feelings become a part of your soul and are not easily wiped away. Even in our own society where terrorists can cause the death of thousands I can see the appeal of building barriers and trying to find cures against that kind of passion. Faith and love can make people do crazy things.
That is what I loved about this book, that Lauren Oliver explored both sides of the issue in a beautiful and poetic way. I felt that while the ending seem lacking to some, I felt it was full of hope. I felt like both sides, the diseased and the cured, were not wrong. The issue is about choice and cutting yourself off and living life to the fullest. And as the book says, knock down those walls and those barriers even if it is just one person at a time. Everyone has the right to love or not to love.
The audiobook is narrated by Sarah Drew and she voiced all three books in the series. Sarah is an actress and has been on shows like Grey's Anatomy. I think she does a fantastic job as the narrator. She really made the book come alive for me. Her narration of the Alex and Lena scene really gave that dramatic impact that just pushed into heart breaking for me. I could really see those two characters in the woods yelling at each other and the tears streaming down Lena's face because Ms. Drew sounded like she was crying as she voiced a sobbing Lena. I highly recommend not only reading Requiem, but listening to it as well because their is nothing that really brings a book alive like a narrator who loves the story they are voice acting as much as the obsessed fans, like me.
I give Requiem the audiobook five laser pistols because it really is a supernova.
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