Review: Pandemonium [Delirium #2] by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium
[Delirium #2]
Lauren Oliver
Release Date: February 28th 2012 by HarperTeen
( Barnes & Noble / Goodreads )

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push, push, push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence, behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.
-Goodreads

*I won an ARC copy of this book from HarperTeen*

Thoughts/Review:

If you are looking for a book that will leave you on the floor screaming at the top of your lungs with your hand clutching your heart then look no further readers. Pandemonium is the most kick ass sequel I think I have ever read and it left me hanging so bad I swear I have whiplash. If you have/had any doubt in your mind about Lauren Oliver delivering a knock out sequel to her trilogy then push that thought out of your mind NOW! I promise you, Pandemonium will leave you screaming for more and then some. A year is an excruciating wait after that ending.

The thing I really enjoyed about this book [and was super worried about how Oliver was going to do it] was how the chapters are told from alternating times. Every chapter flips between Now and Then and was the perfect way to show how Lena has grown since she jumped the fence and left her old life behind forever. We definitely get to see a new side to Lena that never existed before. While Delirium was all about love, Pandemonium is all about hate and anger. Anger towards herself, anger towards others and the hate she has in her heart for the things that went wrong. In order to grow and move forward you have to come to terms with the past and that is exactly what Lena is forced to do.

Now, I really wish I could babble on and on about all the things that shocked me, stole my breath, and caused me to faint but I can’t.  What I can tell you is that Lena is one bad ass chick once she finally starts to grow into herself and you are all in for one crazy heart wrenching ride. A new book comes with new characters and new problems to face and it was done magnificently. Now, I KNOW you all don’t want to hear this, but there IS a new man in the picture. Before you flip out and pull all of your hair out, just breathe! You have to read it for yourself and make your own opinion but boyyyyyyy are you going to be torn and confused and pissed off at yourself for enjoying a certain shower scene that shouldn’t make you smile [but totally does anyway]. Curious?! You should be!

I know I have been entirely vague but you will thank me when you read the book for yourselves. I need you all to make your own opinions on this one because I am so torn I feel like the other half of myself is floating off somewhere. Deep down I KNEW it was going to end like that but nothing compares with actually reading and feeling it. Lauren Oliver I just have one thing to ask you…Do you enjoy stomping on my heart and then making me wait a year to fix it?! All I have to say readers is buckle up. You are in for one intense ride. Pandemonium is all you could want in a sequel and more. Heartbreak, loss, determination and a drive that will inspire you to go beyond what you think you can do. Say goodbye to everything you knew, because nothing will ever be the same.

Rating:

★★★★★

Five Heart-Stopping Stars

[Seriously, a year?! I have to wait a YEAR?!]

**** **** **** ****

Uh people. I finished this book a month ago and I STILL feel my heart breaking. The only problem I think you will have with this is the fact that you will have to wait A YEAR to see what happens next. Seriously folks. Get ready, your world is going to be turned upside down.

Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Synopsis:

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.
-Goodreads 

Thoughts:Okay guys. This is my first review on here and I really couldn't dream up a better one. I had my eye on this book ever since it came out back in February but the price kept me away. I knew it would go down later on in the year and I had a ton of other books to go through that by the time December rolled around it was just a book on my to be read pile like so many others. Thanks to the lovely people over at The Cheap I was reminded how beautiful the cover was and then my eyes caught sight of the sale price. Needless to say I bought it up instantly and have had my nose in it ever since. I wish I would have spent some extra money and bought the hard back after reading it and loving it so much. I could show this book off to the world. I mean really people, the cover tells all. But I digress, I should probably get onto the actually words within shouldn't I?

 **** **** **** ****

A two page first chapter. You don't expect much from two pages right? Maybe a little dialog with someone important to the book, maybe a pass memory that will come back in later so you have better understanding, but what you get from these two pages is so much better. You get thrown into a future world where love is a horrid disease that everyone has been taught to be terrified from. So much so that once you turn the age of 18 you are to be cured from it forever. At the end of chapter one, I was pretty much forced to read the rest. How could you not?! A world where love is banned?! That is just poppycock! And I know the rest of you out there were thinking the same exact thing! We love to love love!!!!! It is the one thing we search and yearn for, so how could it be called a disease?! 

Lauren Oliver quickly helps you realize why our leading lady, Lena, knows love is a bad thing, it did take her mom after all. Oliver knows how to write ladies and gents, and she knows how to toy with your emotions. Along with a leading lady comes the best friend right? I don't know if anyone tops my favorite bestie this year more than Hana. Lena would seriously be nothing with her best friend by her side, and the story benefits from this pair so much it is unreal. Even when you don't see much of Hana you still are thinking about her, and wanting more from her or at least I was. I really really hope I get to see any little inch of Hana I can in the next book, otherwise I may have to sob on a few shoulders. Also, you can not forget that without Hana, we would have had no Alex. And folks, you want yourself an Alex.

There are so many swoon-worthy boys out there in bookland but from the moment you get introduced to Alex you will be swooning you socks off. Completely sweet and totally compassionate you can't help but to fall in love with him yourself. I wanted Alex in any way possible in this story. When he isn't around I was dreaming up ways where I could pop him in just so I could see more of him, but trust, he is just freaking amazing. The relationship between himself and Lena was so right and developed so perfectly you felt it in your bones when their lips first met. [enter swooning here] Getting to see their relationship grow was the best ever, especially when love is forbidden, it makes their love that much sweeter.


So much happens in the second half of the book it is kinda hard to put into words. Seriously think bam, pow, boom, kapow, and so forth. Friendships are tested, mysteries you didn't even know where mysteries get solved and you heart breaks for about a billion different reasons. Lauren Oliver sure knows how to write an ending folks. I probably should have waited until I had book number two in my hands to read this sucker but I couldn't help myself. I should have known that since the first chapter was incredible that the last was going to be spectacular. And it was, but in the sense that I was on the edge of my seat biting my nails sweating bullets. Then BAM. She goes and does it. She ends the book and I am left a little bawling baby.


From the amazing characters, to the kinda terrifying dystopian world, and the amazing use and flow of words this book has it all. I love being sucked into a world so much that I forget where I really am and how late it is as I flip the pages. I am sure the next installment in this series will be just as great, if not better, than this one. Lauren Oliver has manged to make me fall back in love with the though of love and see, that even when it hurts to love, it is better than not having love at all.

P.S. 
I forgot to mention the one thing that managed to make me smile despite the extremely crazy ending. Seeing how much Lena had grown. Really people, this girl went from fearing love so much that she was counting down the days til she is cured from it to letting it fuel her in the moment she needed it the most. How amazing. Love could never be a bad thing I am telling you. [:


Rating:
* * * * *
Five freaking fantastic stars!
[now on my favorite shelf]