Delirium Series by Lauren Oliver

Overall I didn't like it. I kept reading because the first book ended and I wanted to see how the main character, Lena, would handle the tragic ending. So I read Pandemonium which was much better than the first book but it's ending twist wasn't surprising at all. The third book I only started because I had it on my on phone. The third book has been the biggest disappointment. Lena's maturity spirals away from her. The best part about the third book is the POV from Hana. Please proceed with caution, as spoilers are present, especially for book one.

The first book, Delirium, sets up a world where at 18, everyone gets a procedure that "protects" them from love. They will not longer love and thus be happier because there won't be any heart break, no coveting, irrational behavior, ect. The author tried really hard to sell this concept and even though I didn't buy it because people that can't love and can't hate wouldn't be able to deal with children and teenagers that can. Also, because without love/hate our society might fall apart because it would destroy our sense of "care about that young child" and it would create a lot of sociopaths. But for the sake of entertainment I decide to ignore this and proceed with blinders. Lena the MC, is just a girl with family problems that worried about getting paired, by the government, and which college she will be assigned. She worries about becoming infected with "love" before her procedure but counts down the days until she will be safe. Her best friend Hana is a little more rebellious and introduces Lena to world that goes against the grain, which Lena balks at but you guessed it-she meets a rebellious boy, Alex. We get a sweet love story that transforms Lena from a blind follower to a "free thinker". Of course they are caught and have to escape. It is entertaining, but not really substantive. The ending is a cliff hanger in which Alex is shot a bunch and left with the bad guys while Lena flees. I was impressed that the author attempt to kill Alex off, but wasn't sure if it would stick. Overall I give this book three empty houses out of five.

The second book, Pandemonium, was my favorite in the series. The book is told in two phases-"Now" and "Then". This was a good choice by the author because it fulfills the readers curiosity about how Lena recovered from book one's ordeal without slowing down the action for the overall book. The Lena of "Then" is contrasted with the Lena of "Now" very well. You never feel like they are two different characters but that these two different phases in life are converging. It builds the drama well. We also get a good look at some new characters. Raven and Tack are handled well and like with Lena's "Now" and "Then" you get a sense of how they developed which is very helpful because we don't know them at all before this book. The only thing I will note is that the editing could have been better. There were some inconsistencies with the character's descriptions, like Tack. Then there is Julian. He only appears in the "Now" section. Julian is a great character. He challenges Lena, he helps Lena, and he is considerate toward Lena. I also liked the plot of this book. The worst thing about this book was the ending. It was suppose to be this great shocking plot twist that CHANGED EVERYTHING. It wasn't, it wasn't even shocking, it was expected. It would have been more surprising if it hadn't happened and honestly probably would have made the third book better. I give this book four riots out of five.  

The third book was a mess. I'm not exactly sure what the plot was suppose to be, so we are going to call it a chronicle of Lena's life and a chronicle of Hana's life. Lena, as a character, acted like a spoiled high school girl and not a hardened warrior. She lost the maturity that she won in Pandemonium. Most of the book was spent agonizing/interacting with the love triangle. When there were scenes with other characters, they did not seem to go with general flow of the story. It's like the author sat down and wrote "the love story" all the way through, then went back and peppered scenes with other characters in.  Julian, I am going to say has some character development but it was glanced over. I have nothing but eye rolling for Alex- there was almost no direct interaction with him, mostly observational which is messy. Think Edward Cullen in New Moon. (I cringed too.) This was emphasized with the POV switch to Hana. Hana's story was interesting and I was most invested in what was happening to her than anything else. She had a lot to deal with and it was interesting to see how she managed despite being warped by a procedure that severely put her at a disadvantage. The ending to this book is left open for both Hana and Lena. The author knows how to write an ending, so I am sure this was done deliberately in hopes of continuing the series. Lena's ending made my eyes roll but Hana's mysterious ending was much more acceptable. I give this book two red birds out five. [Run!]

Is it just me or do these covers give off the "Garden of Eden"  but creepy vibe?

Enjoy!