Last fall, Diane from Teen Book Fanatics raved and raved about new YA author, Lauren Oliver. She told me I had to read Before I Fall… and I did, eventually. Diane was right – it was a great book.
Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago and Carmen from Mom to the Screaming Masses tweeted to recommend a YA book called Delirium. I looked it up and saw that it was written by Lauren Oliver. Well that was enough for me – I reserved the book right away.
And it was awesome.
Post apocalyptic fiction where all of the world’s problems were solved by finding a cure for a horrible horrible disease – Love. AKA Amor Deliria Nervosa. When kids reach the age of 18, they’re given the cure (surgical removal of part of the brain), paired with a mate, given a job (and/or a place in a college) and life goes on, without love.
What I really like about Oliver’s books is that there are no happy endings – the right things happen, but that doesn’t mean people are happy and all of the problems are solved in the end. It’s usually just the opposite but it feels real and right.
I would really like a sequel to this book. I’d like to see what happens next – to Lena. Maybe to Alex, if he survived. Or to Hana. Or Grace. Anyone from the story, really. They’re all interesting and I think they all have things to say that they didn’t have a chance to say in Delirium.