I picked up Delirium at BEA and was initially underwhelmed by the premise, which has been done before in many other books. Lena, our teenage protagonist, lives in a world where love has been eradicated (oh my goodness, how many times have I used that phrase “in a world where” in the past couple of years when talking about YA books?). When people turn 18, they are taken to have a procedure done on their brains which makes them immune to the “deliria,” their phrase for the disease of love.
I will admit I rolled my eyes more than a few times when I read the synopsis on the back of the book. It seemed like a knockoff of The Giver, except the futuristic society in Delirium has seized one aspect of human existence to demonize, while the society in The Giver was much more complex. The book seemed kind of like a really easy (and cheap) way to create star-crossed lovers to appease the multitudes of Twilight fans (star-crossed lovers being as much the rage as vampires).
In Delirium, the deliria is blamed for all society’s ills, and everyone – including those who have not yet had the procedure – agrees that the absence of love makes for a better world. I could go on about why, buy buy-in is necessary for dystopias, so I’ll just say that I had no problem buying into this premise (especially since I’ve bought into similar ones many times before).
Lena is very much looking forward to the procedure…until she meets a boy. Of course. You know where this is going – she realizes that love is not the culprit of our ills, it’s the reason we choose to live despite the ills, and so on and so forth. This is nothing new. I was anticipating this from page 1, and honestly did not expect to read beyond a few pages.
But then I read those first few pages, and I kept reading. And kept reading. And got lost in the story and the characters and, above all, the outstanding prose. Lauren Oliver knows how to tell a story, even if the bare bones of that story have been told before. She’s got a way with words. In many other less-polished works, the language is sometimes jarring at times and awkward phrasing can bring the reader out of the story, remind her that she’s reading a book, not experiencing it. With Delirium, that never happened. I picked up the book and didn’t notice how far I had read until I paused and realized half the book was gone.
The fantastic writing was not the only reason I was so engrossed in the book. Oliver managed to avoid two of the pitfalls that other writers (particularly those who have recently written dystopias to capitalize on the trend) have succumbed to: characters who behave in the stereotypical way merely to advance the plot and a pat, too-easy ending. The characters in Delirium constantly surprised me, in particular Lena’s friend Hana. My predictions about Hana were proven wrong at least twice (and I am an old hat with dystopias so I know all the tricks). By giving her characters depth and the ability to act in surprising yet believable ways, Oliver has pushed her story beyond the usual trendy fare.
And then there’s that ending. Obviously I can’t tell you what the ending involves, but I can tell you that it’s not what you think, and it’s also the only ending that works with the story Oliver has told. It’s both unexpected and completely satisfying.
Dystopia fiction is such a hot sub-genre right now, and so many titles are being published that should have remained in the slush pile. Delirium rises above these many lesser works. It shows that a skilled author can take a topic that seems done to death and breathe new life into it. I was so impressed with Delirium that I actually went on to read Before I Fall and was equally impressed. (This is a big deal, guys. I normally stay away from contemporary books and especially stay away from books about mean girls).
But now comes the bad news…this is the first in a series. Too bad. The ending was one of the best I’ve read in a long, long time (in any book, not just a dystopia), and it is certainly strong enough to stand on its own. I wish it were allowed to.
Review copy picked up at BEA (duh). Sidenote: my review copy has this cover. Which one do you like better?
great review!
I'm with you on the premise – I had a hard time at first, but I got really sucked in! Her writing is so fantastic, even in the ARCs, that I'll pretty much read anything of hers (even though I didn't particularly like Before I Fall). I just posted my review of this yesterday (comparing it to Uglies).
@Melissa – I've heard it compared to Uglies by a lot of people, but I haven't read Uglies so I can't say! It's been sitting on my bookshelf for about two years now and I just haven't picked it up…
I like the blue cover better 🙂
Great review! I absolutely loved this book and you're right, the book definitely can stand alone, but I'm happy that we'll get to learn more about Lena sometime in the future.
I loved this book, I read it first thing after getting home from BEA. Like you, I think Oliver has a gift in her writing. I adored Before I Fall and had set high expectations for this one. I was glad that I wasn't disappointed. I'll echo your love for the end as well. That is one of the other things I adore about Oliver, the girl is not afraid of creating an ending. She did it with Before I Fall and I wasn't the least bit surprised she did it here.
I'm totally a series girl so for me knowing there is a book two is an exciting prospect.