Thursday, March 14, 2013

Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Publishing Date: March 5, 2013

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 391 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary (from Goodreads): 

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.
 But we are still here.
And there are more of us every day.

 Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

 After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

 Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings. Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it. But we have chosen a different road. And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.
 We are even free to choose the wrong thing.


WARNING: If you have not read the first two books in this trilogy, Delirium and Pandemonium, there WILL be spoilers in this review for those books.  

Now, on with the review.

Oh, how it hurts me to know that this is the final installment of the Delirium series.

But what goes up what must come down, just as what begins must end.  Even if it's beautiful.

Delirium holds the mark of a truly good book, in that it connects with you.  It connects with every piece of you, and you feel like you're there.  Like you're a part of it.  Like you're in love.  Like you're hurt.  Like you're scared.  I still strongly think that Alex is my first love. Because he is.  This story became a part of me, a part of my emotions.  It is by no means an average book.

Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem flow seamlessly.  They are set in a futuristic America where love is considered to be a disease known as the Deliria.  There is a cure administered to all citizens above the age of 18 that eradicates love from the recipient's mind.  There are boundaries, curfews, laws, and walls in this America.  Things to keep people safe.  To keep them from the Deliria.

Lena Haloway is the main character in this series.  She is an average, rule-following girl.  And then she catches the Deliria.  And everything changes.  She falls in love, and these books are her story.

Delirium.
Book 1.
This is the beginning.  The easy, beautiful, painless beginning.  It eases you into the series.  Sweeps you off your feet.  Makes you fall in love.  It draws you in.

Pandemonium.
Book 2.
This book begins with hurt, pain, and a bitterness that almost creeps into yourself.  But it begins to build you back up.  You begin to love the characters again, even if you thought you never would, after Delirium.  Slowly, but surely, you fall in love with the characters all over again.

Requiem.
Book 3.
The heartbreak that this book begins with is nearly unbearable.  The most awful, terrifying choice lies before Lena, and it breaks your own heart nearly as much as it is breaking hers.  It makes it unbearable to put the book down.  You are left reading for hours on end, dying to know what happens in the end, yet still willing the book to last forever because you don't want the story to stop.

Requiem is beautiful.  Not merely for the fact that people chose to love even when love seemed so impossible, but also for the fact that people chose to stand up.  They didn't let corrupt leaders control them.  They stood up for what they believed in.

Even though this book seems to be focused on love, it's really about so much more than that.  It's focused on everything that's worth fighting for.  The Delirium series, and especially Requiem, shouts a message to the world.  It screams that there cannot be freedom without responsibility, there isn't health without pain, and there can never be love without choice.  If you're going to fight for something, make it something worthwhile.  Something you believe in.  Something good.  And give it all you have.

Favorite quote from the book:
"This is what amazes me: that people are new every day.  That they are never the same.  You must always invent them, and they must always invent themselves, too." 

P. S. - After you read the book, if you're looking for a really good tear-jerker, you can read Lauren Oliver's goodbye letter to Lena here.

Love you guys,
-Maggs

6 comments:

  1. YOOOUUUU BACCCCKKKK!!!! I can't comment about this review cause I'm planning to read Delirium but....still....JOOOOOO BAAAAACCCCCKKKK!!!!! ALDFKJAKSDFJALK <333333 *GLOMP*

    You staying around for awhile or you leaving me again? Don't leave, Mags! COMMEEE BACKK TO THE BLOGOSPHERE!!!! NOOOOoooooOOoooo......

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    1. YESSSSSSSSS.

      I SHOULD BE BACK FOR A WHILE. EEP. EXCITEMENT.

      And seriously, girl. Read Delirium. ASAP. So worth it.

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    2. I will....as soon as I could go to the library...which I rarely have time. So i'll have to make do with the school's books DX.

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    3. Okay. Let me know when you finish it... I'll be insanely pumpeddd.

      Because seriously, I can gush about this series all hours of the day.

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  2. I MUST READ THIS BOOK!!! Ohmygosh I'm dying here. I've heard so many good and bad things about it that I just don't know what to think anymore.
    I'm so glad you loved it! I'm planning on raiding Barnes & Noble now. :)

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    Replies
    1. Haha, well in my opinion, it's well worth it. I know reading is different for everyone though, so be sure to let me know your thoughts if you read it! I'd love to know what you think.

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