![]() She is disgusted and frightened by the idea of love. When we meet Lena, only months before her procedure, she can’t wait to be cured. Walter Freeman - lobotomy - homophobia” to see how disturbingly close to reality Oliver’s imaginary procedure is. Like all good fantasies about the future, it is easy to imagine how this world would evolve out of our own. Post op, people might resemble empty robots, but they also have long marriages and stable, pain-free lives. The procedure is a painful operation on the brain that makes it impossible to fall in love. Upon turning eighteen, the state requires citizens to submit to the aforementioned evaluation (so that they can be matched with suitable partners) and then undergo the procedure. People have come to believe that love or, as they call it, amor deliria nervosa, is the root of all unhappiness and illness. In Oliver’s prediction, Church, State and Science have fused into one fundamentalist institution. Lauren Oliver’s trilogy, Delirium, Pandemonium and the forthcoming Requiem takes place in a nightmarish future. Normalcy is a big thing when you’re a teenager - either rejecting it or molding yourself into it.īut this is not Maine - or the United States - as we know it. In fact, there is probably nothing more defining about Lena than her own longing for and belief in normalcy. An accomplished runner, she loves sleepovers with her best friend Hana and longs for the day when she can get married and settle down. She is a normal girl, mildly insecure but also stronger than she knows, not particularly pretty, but not un-pretty. In a moment of unbridled independence, she answers, “gray” and not the state approved color of “blue.” Even though she has rehearsed her answers a million times, some impulsive, un-tameable part of her rises up as she faces the panel of government officials. Pandemonium is a solid sequel that’s full of suspenseful and heart-wrenching twists, with an epic ending that will guarantee that readers will be desperate to pick up the third and final book, Requiem.IN THE OPENING CHAPTER of Lauren Oliver’s Delirium, 17-year-old Lena Haloway takes a mandatory state evaluation designed to determine what kind of wife she will be. Although in most cases it can hold its own – it’s a wonderfully dramatic, moving story – there were two particular events that felt like they were included purely as a set-up for the third book, even though could have been addressed now, and I’d be lying if I said I enjoyed the book more than Delirium. Pandemonium suffers slightly from ‘middle book syndrome’. I have to be honest and say that there was one main problem that I had with the book. I also welcomed the inclusion of Julian, who I judged right from the start but it turned out I underestimated him, and the comfort he provides Lena. It’s common for there to be talk of wanting to take down those in charge and change the laws in YA dystopian novels, but in Pandemonium there is action and the group certainly get stuff done. I liked that there is a stronger sense of resistance in this novel. ![]() Pandemonium is grittier and more horrifying than Delirium was because Lena is no longer naive. Lena becomes a strong character who can not only get herself out of a dangerous situation, but does it with style. I enjoyed discovering more about her personality as she becomes more self-aware and adept. We’re introduced to a (mostly) friendly bunch of Invalids – Raven, Hunter, Sarah, Blue, Tack and others, and we hear astonishing, poignant stories of how they ended up living together. We follow Lena through two years of her life as she discovers the truth about Invalids and struggles to survive without the comforts of abundant food, water and warmth. Pandemonium is less dystopian romance and more traditional dystopia/survival story. ![]() It is here where Lena meets Julian and is forced to choose between grieving for Alex forever or moving on with her life. She is once again left to her own devices when a government meeting is intercepted and she’s captured by an antagonist group of Invalids – Scavengers. The present is two years on and Lena is in New York City and a covert member of the resistance. We find out how Lena was saved by Raven and a group of Invalids in Rochester. In the past, the story continues directly after the escape. In Pandemonium, Lena’s narrative switches between “now” and “then”. Review: Pandemonium is the second book in the Delirium trilogy, so I advise you not to keep reading this review if you’ve not read the first book.Īt the end of Delirium, Lena manages to escape to the Wilds leaving Alex behind, presumably dead.
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