A review by disabledmermaid
Delirium, by Lauren Oliver
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
While there are some parts that are completely implausible no matter how much I try to suspend disbelief (how could someone possibly entirely conceal a chunk of skin being torn from their leg from so many people?), I genuinely loved this book
The world this is set in is genuinely unsettling and tense. The concept is disturbing, and reading Lena’s journey as she slowly shakes herself free of the brainwashing was intense
The love story was convincingly written as a teenager falling in love for the first time, hard and quick and often reckless, with the added touch of fear and doubt due to the society Lena was raised in
I also loved how much Lena’s love for her best friend, her mother, and her cousin’s daughter contributed to her choices
The world this is set in is genuinely unsettling and tense. The concept is disturbing, and reading Lena’s journey as she slowly shakes herself free of the brainwashing was intense
The love story was convincingly written as a teenager falling in love for the first time, hard and quick and often reckless, with the added touch of fear and doubt due to the society Lena was raised in
I also loved how much Lena’s love for her best friend, her mother, and her cousin’s daughter contributed to her choices
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide