Saturday 17 March 2012

REVIEW: Pandemonium (Delirium #2) by Lauren Oliver

Summary (Goodreads)
I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, pushing aside thoughts of Alex, pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead. But the old Lena is dead too. I buried her. I left her beyond a fence, behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite




Review
WOW. Okay, I have to admit I was putting off reading this book. I absolutely love-love-loved Delirium, but I was so scared that Pandemonium would go off in the wrong direction, I didn't dare start it! Now of course I realise how stupid that was, because it was wonderful and had me glued to the page from start to finish.

The chapters in Pandemonium switch between two time frames: "Then", which follows Lena when she first arrives in the Wilds, and "Now", in which she is involved in a Resistance mission. I actually really liked this format as it kept things fresh. I could never stop reading because I was so desperate to keep finding out what was happening in the different sections! Lauren Oliver kept them very well balanced, and I never found myself aching for one and skimming the other, as I sometimes do when two stories are intersected in this way.

I loved Lena in Delirium and I love the new, tougher Lena just as much, if not more. I don't want to give too much away, but I think it's pretty much a given that there's going to be some sort of romantic element going on here. As worried as I was that I wasn't going to like this, I really did. Perhaps not as much as I adored Alex & Lena in Delirium, but still!

Of course there were plenty of new characters to meet and there were quite a few who stood out to me. Raven was deliciously complex and though I hated her at times, I could completely understand whey she behaved the way she did. From the very first scene with Julian I was dying to know more about him and I wasn't disappointed. I felt so sorry for him and admired his bravery throughout. I also liked Tack a lot, I really hope he'll have a decent part in book 3 because he remains a bit of an enigma here.

I'm really struggling to come up with any negatives for this book. I suppose at times the foreshadowing was a little heavy-handed. There was one point when I wanted to scream at Lena because she kept saying that she had a bad feeling about something but she never did anything about it. Also the ending... I just knew it was going to happen and when it did I have to say it felt like a bit of a cheap trick. Also: meanest cliffhanger ever! It does makes me worry a little about the direction Requiem will take. However I'm pretty sure even if my fears were to come true, Lauren Oliver would still pull it off wonderfully.

She is definitely amongst my very favourite writers. She has such a beautiful way with words and I often found myself wanting to stop and flag or copy down a particularily lyrical phrase. Whilst some books get bogged down with pretty words and forget about the plot and characters though, Lauren Oliver keeps both very engaging throughout. There are a lot of tense and action-packed moments in this book and at times I honestly found I was holding my breath and could feel my heart beating faster as I read! Overall it's easy for me to say that I absolutely adored this book, and I cannot wait to read the final instalment in 2013, no matter what happens!


4 comments:

  1. Wow. You're so lucky to be able to get Pandemonium! I L-O-V-E-D Delirium so much, so I'll probably like the sequel as much as you did. :D

    What you said about the ending and the mean cliffhanger makes me want to read the book all the more. But it hasn't come to the nearest bookstore to me yet. :/

    Thanks for sharing!

    Meg @ The Book Galaxy

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    1. Aww I hope you can get hold of Pandemonium soon, it's definitely worth the wait though! Thanks for the comment! :)

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  2. Thanks for following my blog! I am so looking forward to reading Pandemonium! I read the first page the other day at Barnes and Noble.

    http://ya100words.blogspot.com

    Leighann

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    1. Ah you're welcome! :) Hope you enjoy Pandemonium as much as I did, I'll look forward to seeing your review!

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