Friday, August 31, 2012

Delirium by Lauren Oliver ~ audio book review

Source: Purchased audio book from audible

My Summary:

Love causes the sickness but Lena can't help falling in love.  She grew up excited to be cured when she turned eighteen.  She never saw it coming and now no one can know.  If they find out then she will be cured earlier.  She wants every second possible to stay in love with him.  But as the lies she has been told all of her life starts to unravel, can she really be happy being cured at all?


My Thoughts:




5 stars - A delicious love story set where love isn't allowed

I'll start with the narrator since I listened to this book. Sarah Drew narrates this book and I enjoyed her presentation.  She does a good job with the voices and doesn't distract from the book.  That's high praise as far as I'm concerned.

The world that Lauren Oliver creates for Delirium is unique and compelling.  I can totally see how an extremest group could create an attitude of fear strong enough to cause such a extreme result.  Then control the information to prevent people from realizing what had happened.  I wonder sometimes if we are not headed for something like this as we, as a society, turn over our individual rights for the sake of safety or other equally good concepts.  So this world was believable to me.  It was incredible how those who had been "cured" didn't even see the state they were in.  Again, I could draw parallels to social problems where the cure is far worse than the problem.  I enjoyed the world.

The characters were fabulous.  I loved Alex.  He has a fun personality with a very sweet side.  One of my very favorite scenes was when he explains the "why me" to Lena.  All I'll say is that it involved a crazy dance around a statue missing a hand.  Made me smile.  Of course I love Lena too.  She has been raised to believe lies her whole life.  She resists changing that mind set but her internal dialogue is fabulous.  So normal, really, but that's what makes it so good.  I could see myself clinging to what I had alway believed in the face of evidence to the contrary.  It's human nature.  Makes her more real to me.

The story line was fast pasted and sweet.  They certainly didn't have instant love but instead developed a great relationship.  I loved how the story turned when I was expecting it to twist and twisted when I thought is was going to turn.  I did guess a few things right but, really, I read so much that I can usually guess most of it right.  Not this time.  Though I did see the cliffhanger coming.

That cliff hanger ending was heart breaking.  I do have book two and want very much to dig in but my review schedule will not allow it.  So I'm gonna put it in the next available slot so I can know something VERY important.  Hmmm... wonder if I can sneak in one or two chapters just to know.  Better not risk it.  This is the kind of book that if you start it you are gonna be up all night!!

Anyone who loves dystopia with a heavy dose of romance should LOVE Delirium!  Pick it up for sure.


9 comments:

  1. sounds awesome but not for me . great review

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great review! I love this book as well (and Alex.) That ending really is crazy! It kinda killed me, just wait until you read Pandemonium, cause that one has a killer ending as well. You were right not to start Pandemonium, because there is no stopping once you do.

    Teresa @ Readers Live A Thousand Lives

    ReplyDelete
  3. I loooove audiobooks. I may try this out sometime. I keep hearing about the crazy endings in this series. I think I'll wait until the last one comes out then read them back-to-back. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I loved this book so much. I would love to listen to it on audiobook I think. I have been listening to a lot of audiobooks lately. I just recently listened to Before I Fall and it was the same reader. She is really great. I didn't care for some of the voices she did, but when she was as the MC it was amazing. The emotion and feeling she brought out gave me chills. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The ending was just...no words. Completely shocked me that she left us hanging like that. So cruel! Still have to read Pandemonium...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I TOTALLY AGREE! that ending. just... *sigh* better read Pandemonium. and Hana too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I loved this audiobook too ! I will say Pandemonioum is a completely different creature though ! I was listening to Delirium in my car and I remember just gripping the steering wheel so hard at the end.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh cool, I'm glad you liked the audio. I read Delerium but have Pandemonium on audio. Hope its the same narrator, sounds like she did a good job. I totally agree with you at the ending. What a way to leave us hanging huh?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have this to read. So glad you enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete