Mundie Moms

Friday, February 10, 2012

Book Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Flashback Friday is a meme I started last year here on the blog for the sole purpose of spotlighting books that have been sitting on my shelf to read for awhile. This will include titles released the previous year and ones that have been out for a few years. Today's feature is for a book that's been on list to read for awhile: DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver.


Published by: Harper Teen
Released on: 1st released on 2/1/11; special edition released on 8/2/11
Source: bought
5 stars: I Loved It!
Purchase from: Amazon |Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Ninety-five days, and then I’ll be safe.

I wonder whether the procedure will hurt.

I want to get it over with.

It’s hard to be patient.

It’s hard not to be afraid while I’m still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn’t touched me yet.

Still, I worry.

They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness.

The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don’t -quoted from Goodreads

Warning: while reading this book you may experience severe reactions to amor deliria nervosa, also known as falling in love, something that's "cured" aka banned in Delirium's society. Side effects may include sleepless nights while reading Delirium, the inability to concentrate on anything else but reading this book, nervousness over what's going to happen to Lena & Alex, having your heart ripped out, sighing, finding yourself sitting on the edge of your seat, kissing your book, running out to pre-order PANDEMONIUM, petting the new beautiful cover, telling all your friends to go pick up this book, and of course falling helplessly in love with the brilliant, and breathtakingly beautiful writing of Lauren Oliver.

Can you imagine living in a society where LOVE is a disease?! I seriously loved the way Lauren created a fascinating society that "cures" love. Yes it may seem hilarious, but when you read DELIRIUM it totally makes sense. Lauren's writing is just awesome! It's richly detailed, it's poetic, captivating and I love that she really makes me think. Lauren is truly a gifted writer and I swear she could write a story about the most outlandish thing and make it credible. Here's a taste of Lauren's beautiful prose, which is also one of my favorite quotes from DELIRIUM:

Sometimes I feel like if you just watch things, just sit still and let the world exist in front of you- sometimes I swear that just for a second time freezes and the world pauses in it's tilt. Just for a second. And if you somehow found a way to live in that second, then you would live forever. - pg 153

This is one of the many reasons why I adored Lena, the story's main protagonist. She's insightful and I admired the way she fights to believe in something she's grown up being taught vs something that's right in front of her face telling her otherwise. I love a character who has a quest for finding the truth, no matter how heartbreaking that truth can be and how much they'll have to sacrifice in order to get it. Alex is a character I immediately loved. He challenges everything that Lena has been taught. I love the way in which he makes her think and helps her open her eyes to the truth around her. I of course loved the way their relationship developed over the course of the book.

I'm surprised at how much I loved this book considering there isn't a lot of action, there's no paranormal characters and the characters aren't as in-depth as I usually like them. What a beautiful change of pace this book is for me! This is a book that completely snuck up on me and swept me off my feet with it's beautiful writing style, romantic story line, and it's well developed characters. Oh Lauren Oliver the things you did to my heart in this book..... Luckily my heart won't be ripped out for long as I'm off to drown my broken heart in PANDEMONIUM. Seriously, if you haven't already go PICK UP DELIRIUM! You'll enjoy every moment experiencing the side effects of amor deliria nervosa while reading Lena's story. There is very mild language in this book.

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Want to read HANA, the novella that takes place after DELIRIUM and is from the point of view of Lena's best friend for free? Here's what we have to do:


If 5,000 fans pre-order PANDEMONIUM before 2/14 Lauren's companion novella for HANA will be released for FREE for 4 days on MTV.com and Hollywood Crush!!! What are you waiting for?! Go pre-order PANDEMONIUM now!


Freebie Friday: Pay it Forward

Happy Friday!!! Today I'm giveaway some signed swag, but there's a catch with this giveaway. 1 winner will receive:

* 2 signed Last Rite bookmarks from Lisa Desrochers
* 2 signed Eternal Starling bookmarks from Angela Corbett
* 2 signed postcards of Hunted from DJ DeSmyter
* 2 bookmarks & 2 stickers of Don't Breath a Word from Holly Cupala (not signed).

The winner gets to keep 1 set and has to "Pay It Forward" aka give the other set away. You can giveaway to your friends, your local library or whoever you'd like.

To enter, please fill out the form below. Normal Giveaway Rules apply (1 entry per person, under 13 has to have a parent/guardian's permission to enter). This is open internationally. The giveaway will end on 2/29/12

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