I had to mentally prepare myself for this one for a while. I knew after how devastated I was after Delirium, and a certain someone's return in Pandemonium that I would be needing a mansize box of tissues and an industrial supply of chocolate to get through this.
It was what I can only describe as a fairly perfect ending to a wonderful trilogy, and one that will stay with me for a long while. Although perhaps not as resolved as I wish it could have been (I really wanted to know what happened with the whole Lena - Alex - Julian love triangle we had going on) it was an absolutely perfect tale of the human race combining together to overthrow the wrong decisions made for them by a government with entirely the wrong morals and ideas, and the show of solidarity was heartwarming and uplifting.
We join Lena at the beginning of the story after she leaves New York with Julian, and Alex. This becomes difficult for all in the group as the tension between her and Alex, and subsequently the tension between her and Julian, and of course Julian and Alex, grows.
When they land themselves in trouble in the Wilds and have to flee from a group of regulators, they find themselves part of a large resistance headed back to Lena's original home, Portland.
Lena is then faced with the difficult decision, does she fight for what she believes in, at what cost none of them know. Or does she secrete herself further into the Wilds to live a solitary life of survival and supposed freedom?
I didn't actually cry this time (weird right? Especially as I didn't cry at City of Heavenly Fire either!!) but there were some incredibly emotional scenes, and Oliver gives the characters new depths which makes their relationships even more believable. I loved the return of Hana in the narrative, and especially enjoyed the chapters from her point of view, and seeing that the Cure really isn't everything the government thought it would be. Seeing her struggle with her reality, and what she knows her reality should be was a particularly deep section of the book, and I found it well represented the agony when you realise that your life isn't perhaps going in the direction you wished it to yet you don't know how to change it (something I'm currently going through myself). So overall I guess you could say this whole trilogy for me was a resounding success. It goes onto my Forever Pile, in other words its a trilogy I will read over and over again until I'm old and grey.
Apologies for how long this review has taken to appear, I finished the book weeks ago however I have been re-reading the last few books in The Mortal Instruments series in preparation for City of Heavenly Fire being released. (Seriously guys, omg. Buy it. Just, I can't.)
I was so, so excited to read Pandemonium, anticipating that it would leave me an emotional wreck just like its predecessor, Delirium. I was slightly disappointed then, on finishing it, that I hadn't been drawn to tears. I did however thoroughly enjoy it.
I didn't really know what to expect from the story, only that it would take place in the Wilds, so the introduction of New York City as a new setting was both surprising and welcome. I really got behind the love interest in this sequel, although I will never get over Lena and Alex, I thought there was some really interesting progression in the relationship between her and Julian. I read someone on GoodReads making the point that Lena seems to take over the role of Alex in Pandemonium, and therefore Julian becomes Lena (based on relationship roles in Delirium) and I find this really interesting as it throws a whole new understanding to their relationship.
I absolutely cannot wait to read Requiem now, and it won't be too long before I devour it (I just have to read and recover from City of Heavenly Fire first) especially due to the beautiful and unexpected little twist at the very end of Pandemonium.
I guess once again this is a book I would recommend to anyone and everyone!
I first heard about Delirium after stumbling across a fan blog on Tumblr and was immediately engaged by the concept. I then stumbled across it in W H Smiths last weekend and it was the last copy and of course I determined that it was fate for me to bring it home.
I then spent the next week in severe emotional trauma at the hands of Lauren Oliver.
I haven't cried while reading a book since first reading The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices (Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones now available on Blu Ray and DVD) however I was up until the early hours of the morning several times this week with tears running down my face while reading this stunning story of love, freedom and determination to beat the odds.
I have heard rumours that Delirium has been commissioned for a TV series in the USA, and therefore I don't want to give too much of the story away, however I will give a brief synopsis for those wishing to read the book.
Lena is a young girl growing up in the city of Portland, USA. The book is set in a future where love has been identified as a disease, fences surround cities to keep out the infected, while those inside undergo a procedure to cure themselves of love after their high school education is finished. They are then matched with a partner and sent off to begin their lives together.
Until the cure, girls and boys remain segregated from one another, contact of any kind with an uncured is illegal, and love is punishable by death. Lena and her friend Hana live their lives within in the rules until the summer of their cure, when Lena meets Alex.
I found the story both heartwarming and emotional. Lena and Alex were characters I could really get behind, their fight for freedom and what they believe in was inspiring and since finishing the book although I was a crying wreck for a while after putting it down it's left me in a weirdly positive mindset for the last few days.
This is without doubt the best book I've read so far in 2014. I know we're only at the start of the year but I definitely think that it will be a hard one to top.
