Tag Archives: Lauren Oliver

Requiem by Lauren Oliver (Delirium Trilogy)

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Synopsis:
In a world where love is cured by surgery, two former best friends find themselves on opposite sides of a brewing class war.

Review:
I really don’t even know what to say about Requiem. I thought Delirium was a better-than-average entry into the Hunger Games dystopian genre. And I loved Lauren Oliver’s standalone Before I Fall. But this trilogy fizzled out for me. I’m tired of love triangles, team this and team that, and free zones, and teenage girls involved in guerrilla tactics. Nothing about this conclusion felt fresh to me. I wonder how I’d feel re-reading the Uglies trilogy today?

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

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Synopsis:
After escaping from the repressive regime seeking to outlaw love, Lena joins the resistance and gets a dangerous assignment.

Review:
Pandemonium definitely suffered from middle book blues. I loved Delirium but I am not confident that the series will end up knocking my socks off. I’ll definitely read the third book whenever it comes out, though!

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

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Synopsis:
Lena is eagerly anticipating her upcoming surgery to have her ability to love removed–until she falls in love.

Review:
Delirium is part one of a trilogy, so I have to reserve judgement until it’s over. I did really enjoy it and immediately downloaded Pandemonium. I loved Before I Fall and it seems like Lauren Oliver is one of those writers with a million stories inside her. Bring it!

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

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Synopsis:
After dying in a car crash, popular high school senior Samantha has to re-live Cupid day, facing up to her own weaknesses and those of her best friends, and finding a hope that fuels her will to find out how she can avert her own inevitable fate.

Review:
Before I Fall was recommended to me by YA book reviewer extraordinaire Renee Fountain, whose site Book Fetish is chock-a-block with a wonderfully diverse assortment of reviews. I had a lovely breakfast with Renee and enjoyed getting to talk books with a fellow YA-aficionado. She told me I had to read this book, and she was absolutely right.

The story follows a popular high school girl who lives an unexamined life of keg parties, teasing the less fortunate, and basking the reflected glow of her popular best friends. Samantha has never stopped to wonder if she’s cut out for anything more until the night when she is killed in a car accident. The next morning she wakes up on the day she died, and it seems like she’s being given a chance to make things right. Only Sam can’t figure out what she’s supposed to do, and makes some hideous mistakes before finally figuring out what it is she’s supposed to live for. I was tremendously moved by Sam’s journey and loved the way Lauren Oliver made me care about the kinds of girls I tend to hate, the popular, beautiful, lucky ones who don’t care who they hurt as long as they remain on top. The story is fearlessly told with ruthless honesty and no fear of the darker side of life. I loved it!