Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium (Delirium #1)
by Lauren Oliver

They say that the cure for Love will make me happy and safe forever. 
And I've always believed them. 
Until now.
Now everything has changed.
Now, I'd rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie.
Lena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love and leads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday and her treatment, when she falls in love.

OK, so I finished this book at 5am this morning and I'm definitely glad I stayed up reading it. It was beautiful, heartbreaking and breathtaking. I was hooked from the very first line - "It's been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected the cure" - and I just didn't want to put it down. I had to keep reading.

Lena was such a fantastic main character. She was just a normal girl, and I felt an instant connection with her because of that. It was nice to have a main character in a dystopian who is normal, it was different. I enjoyed learning about Lena through her memories of her past, what her life was like and how she's ended up who she is today. I completely understood Lena's perspective on the change to start with because of what happened, but as the book went on and I got to see how people who have had the change act, I started to realise how awful the change sounded. Not being able to love and act in any kind of loving way towards any human being just seems brutal. The whole concept of love being a disease was fantastic. I loved hearing about the stupid stories that the government has been feeding everyone and they're eating them up, not even questioning it.

I really loved Hana as well. I also felt an instant connection with her. Hana & Lena's friendship was beautiful. They were so close and I just loved reading about them together. Hana was hilarious and confident and I feel that she helped bring out a different side of Lena.

I also really adored Alex. I mean, who wouldn't? He's such a likable, interesting and friendly character. Right away, I knew that there was going to be an attraction between Lena and Alex. I loved their relationship. I loved seeing it grow throughout the book. Although it might slightly be considered a case of insta-love, it's kind of hard to measure in a book where love is considered a disease. But the development of their relationship was great, I love them as a couple.

I'm really intrigued by Grace. She's a strange character and I'm hoping that she'll be a part of the rest of the series. She was so sweet and kind.

So there were quite a few major twists in this book that I kind of saw coming, but I still felt really shocked when they were revealed in the book. I think I'd convinced myself that I was wrong and that's why I still felt so shocked when I found out what I thought was going to happen, did happen. I loved the world building in this book. Seeing how everyone is after the change and the lengths some people will go to prevent the change was interesting. I also enjoyed seeing Lena uncover secrets about the government and see them for what they really are.

The ending of this book was a massive cliffhanger. I had tears in my eyes at the end. I couldn't believe it! After everything that happened throughout the book and Oliver leaves me with that ending? WHY!?

This book was just freakin' awesome! Seriously, it's one of the best dystopian novels I've ever read which is why I gave it:

Thankfully, I already ordered Pandemonium when I started Delirium and the minute I get it I'll definitely be reading it! I can't wait to see what's going to happen in the rest of the series!