Contrary to the other review, I actually found the book Delirium very enjoyable.
To be fair, when I first heard of the plot about love being a disease, I thought "okay, this is stupid." But Oliver actually executes it really well. I like the character of Lena. She is relatable, especially in the first novel, and she gets a massive amount of character development throughout the series. I also like the foil she has with Hana, her best friend. Yes, Alex is a little bit of a cliche "lover boy," but he's SUPPOSED to be like that. He's the love interest in a world where love is outlawed, for Pete's sake. Of course he's going to want to show Lena the world of love, and of course he's going to do it in a mushy way, including showing her old poems and the like.
I love dystopian novels, and the more unique for me the better. This was definitely unique for me, though I would like to know how in the world they decided that love came to be known as a disease in the first place, and why in the world everyone just went along with it. But I digress. Also, the underlying themes of the controlling-ass government and even animal and child abuse really hits home, and it actually evoked a lot of emotion out of me while I was reading. It made me absolutely irate, and I just wanted to shake some of the characters and shout "Wake up!" It's always an amazing feat when an author can do that to his or her readers, and I take my hat off to Oliver for that.
The one thing that really stood out to me in this novel, however, was how beautifully it was written. Oliver is so descriptive, and I love it when I read a book and I'm just in love with every single word, every single sentence that is typed onto the paper. And that was the case with this novel. I could imagine every scene, as well as every character's physical appearance perfectly in my head as I was reading it. And that's what really made this book shine in my opinion. The pacing of the whole novel was also spot-on.
Overall, I'm giving Delirium a 9 out of 10. Good work, Oliver!
A good book!
Contrary to the other review, I actually found the book Delirium very enjoyable.
To be fair, when I first heard of the plot about love being a disease, I thought "okay, this is stupid." But Oliver actually executes it really well. I like the character of Lena. She is relatable, especially in the first novel, and she gets a massive amount of character development throughout the series. I also like the foil she has with Hana, her best friend. Yes, Alex is a little bit of a cliche "lover boy," but he's SUPPOSED to be like that. He's the love interest in a world where love is outlawed, for Pete's sake. Of course he's going to want to show Lena the world of love, and of course he's going to do it in a mushy way, including showing her old poems and the like.
I love dystopian novels, and the more unique for me the better. This was definitely unique for me, though I would like to know how in the world they decided that love came to be known as a disease in the first place, and why in the world everyone just went along with it. But I digress. Also, the underlying themes of the controlling-ass government and even animal and child abuse really hits home, and it actually evoked a lot of emotion out of me while I was reading. It made me absolutely irate, and I just wanted to shake some of the characters and shout "Wake up!" It's always an amazing feat when an author can do that to his or her readers, and I take my hat off to Oliver for that.
The one thing that really stood out to me in this novel, however, was how beautifully it was written. Oliver is so descriptive, and I love it when I read a book and I'm just in love with every single word, every single sentence that is typed onto the paper. And that was the case with this novel. I could imagine every scene, as well as every character's physical appearance perfectly in my head as I was reading it. And that's what really made this book shine in my opinion. The pacing of the whole novel was also spot-on.
Overall, I'm giving Delirium a 9 out of 10. Good work, Oliver!