molly_is_a_beast's review against another edition
- 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
Spoiler
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?Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, and Animal death
Minor: Blood and Cursing
mariah_rae1's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
5 stars! I need the second one.
Minor: Suicide
kamrynkoble's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Police brutality and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Violence, and Gun violence
Minor: Animal death
courtneym93's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Minor: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
laurenevlyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Medical content
Minor: Homophobia
saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
It ticks off so much of what made the genre bad in the early 2010s that it at times reads like a parody. The world building is paper thin, falling apart with just one half brain cell of thought; the protagonist is a complete nobody bland piece of bread; and the love interest is just as bland and the romance lacks any chemistry.
With all that said, I didn’t actually begin really disliking this until I was done with the book. The prose was just okay and readable enough that I read most of it in one sitting, not so much entertained, more so I just had to finish for the book club where we specifically read bad books (this was my choice) (pretty sure all those bad books broke us so for the next few months we’re choosing good books again). I’m sure this book is just alright if you put literally zero thinking into it. Which honestly, that’s the core problem of these YA dystopias. They had some absolutely wild unrealistic dystopian premises and then ended up being shallower than a kitty pool with some truly shitastic world building.
Delirium’s premise really is laughable. It set the book up for failure from the beginning. “Love is a disease” is a bullshit premise, even for a fantasy, let’s be real. But then the book puts itself even further into the ground as it goes about failing to define what love actually is. It could’ve pulled itself together by perhaps drawing parallels to how interracial marriage was once illegal and/or how same-gender marriage was once illegal (two laws that are under threat in the US thanks to the asshats running the supreme court) (funnily, there is a terrifying line in this book that mentions how queer people are criminalized in this world and get The Cure which supposedly makes them no longer queer. This terrifying concept is never mentioned again). But nope, we’re going to stumble about and forget that there are real life situations where love is illegal and rebuild from the ground up! Let’s create another dystopia about cishet white people being oppressed in weird sci-fi ways and forget that there are marginalized people that are oppressed today!
Overall, great book pick on my part, me and the entire club hated it! Would recommend it if you want to read some bullshit!
Graphic: Medical content, Death of parent, Death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Ableism, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Suicide
Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
zoeharvey__'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Violence, and Police brutality
Moderate: Suicide and Animal death
crybabybea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Animal death, Death, Suicide, and Death of parent
alenert's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide
maca_vr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Death
Minor: Suicide