Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Delirium

OH MY GOD. WHAT WAS THAT ENDING. ugh i loved this book but the ending left me disappointed tbh... otherwise really interesting worldbuilding and narrative!

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ashleyj_reads's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

5.0

I really enjoyed this viewpoint of love’s impact on a dystopian world, and what humans decide to do about it. The main character faces several of the types of conflict while progressing through this coming of age, and it was done well - I liked watching her struggle and problem solve all the way to the end.

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mary_do_12's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

i should’ve known from the blurb on the back of the book how this was going to go. let me explain.

it was kind of a little cringe. and cliché.
in the beginning the main character — lena — is visibly influenced and driven by the lies the government feeds them. she seems like a very naive and oblivious character, who later starts to doubt her views of the world and society. of course, this is character development that is totally necessary. but, and hear me out, the lena we get to know in the beginning of the book is really frustrating and annoying to read about. this is mainly because it’s very obvious to the reader that the whole love as a disease thing is no more than propaganda.
then we meet alex, who is basically the exact opposite of lena. they fall in love (obviously) and then she proceeds to plan her entire life off of him.
the relationship felt flat and had nothing thrilling about it, except the fact that they had to keep it a secret, but at some point everything lena was doing could’ve gotten her jailed, institutionalized or killed.
there were no other characters that stirred any particular interest in me, i enjoyed reading about grace, but even hana felt like she had no depth except for good looks to me.
the plot was — to say it outright — flat as well. it was pretty predictable, but that‘s not to say there weren’t surprising turns.

the ending was admittedly frustrating, but kind of predictable as well so it wasn’t that frustrating.

one thing that you have to give to lauren oliver though, is that she wrote something entertaining. the problem is just that „entertaining“ doesn’t mean it’s a good book. at least for me it doesn’t.
i don’t necessarily regret reading this book, i just wouldn’t do it again.

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molly_is_a_beast's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I found the plot to be obvious and predictable and the love interest was unlikable. It felt almost like he had no life other than her.

I also found that it was silly for the first boy she ever meets that’s not part of her family is what we now have to call “the love of her life.” I felt very distrusting of Alex until he left himself die for her which was odd considering this is only the first book of three and if he’s going to die I would at least hope that they would discover that he was actually planning something sinister or wasn’t all that he seemed otherwise he’s just dead?

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filipa_maia's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

It took me over two years to finish this book.. and no, it not because I'm a slow reader. I hate to 'DNF' books. I can't do it because my brain needs closure: finish a book, write a review and put the book away.

The story is not bad: a world where love is a disease and there is a medical procedure to cure it. People who fall in love are sick. Easy as that. Now, there is a bunch of plot holes to this narrative - if the medical procedure cures you from love, we are talking about ALL THE LOVE romantic and non-romantic. Right? Am i missing something here? Maybe there is something here that I'm not getting. And then this book is unnecessarily big. It could be way shorter, and way more interesting, if we didn't spend so much time reading, with immense detail, every single thought she has. That's why I had to put it down the first time - I was so bored.

Of course that me, being me, I need to read the second book because this one ends in a cliffhanger. I just need to know.

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kamrynkoble's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Middle school Kam bad taste. This was one of my favorites and it was SO fun to revisit it. It’s definitely one of the better YA dystopians. I found the audiobook narrator very annoying, but that’s no fault of the book.

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