Series Review: Delirium Series by Lauren Oliver

Series: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
# of Books: 3 (Delirium, Pandemonium, Requiem)

There are also eBook novellas, for the complete reading order of the series click here

Complete?: Yes
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Heat Rating: cool

Thoughts:

This was one of those series I had a lot of hope for but didn’t quite meet the bar.

I love dystopian fiction and at the time that the first novel, Delirium, had come out, dystopian fiction was just starting to get big. The whole idea that love was a disease that needed to be eradicated seemed very refreshing to me (most dystopian novels I had read all focused on political or personality types as a way to segregate society) so I was definitely interested in. I think that Lauren Oliver excels at creating the setting as a world without love. I like that she transforms Bible passages and other notable works of literature to support the story. There is definite logic to everything and I really appreciate that.

What really killed this series for me was the characters. I found that as each book went on, I lost some of my love for them (no pun intended). Lena never really did anything for me. She was alright in the first book and I liked the character development in the second (Pandemonium) but it was a chore to read about her in book 3, Requiem. I think Hana’s character was a lot more interesting to me and I would have liked to have read more about her at the start (eventually we get more about her later).

Delirium, book 1, was a good book. It hit all the requirements for an enjoyable read despite my lack of love for Lena. I think I enjoyed it more for the world it created than the actual plot (though it definitely picked up at the end of the book).

I was really excited to read book 2, Pandemonium and I would say that this is my favourite book out of the series. Oliver in the 2nd book changes how the POV of the book is written so that took me a bit to get into it (though I can respect the approach) but once I got over that, I really got into the plot twists. While I didn’t appreciate some of the directions the book went into, it set up a lot of awesome storylines that I was eagerly awaiting to see concluded in Requiem.

Unfortunately, Requiem was a complete let down for me. Despite being super excited to read it, it took two solid attempts to actually finish it. I was so disappointed in this book. I just felt like there was a lot of opportunity given what happened in Pandemonium and it was truly wasted. The story was dull and I pretty much skimmed the last few pages just so I could see how it ended. I don’t want to continue ranting, but this book was an unsatisfactory ending to a series that was building itself up for a spectacular ending.

When I finished reading book 3, Requiem, it was just around the time that FOX had announced they were making the book series into a TV show. I seriously doubt that the author ended the book the way she did because of the TV show (I think she was trying to get another point across with how she ended it), but I am hoping that the TV series has a bit more closure to it than the novels did. Turns out FOX is not moving forward with their TV plans for this series and I think that is wise. Check out a few minutes from the unaired show here.

Conclusion:

This series is a prime example of why I created this blog: to save people from devoting their time to a series that they will more than likely be disappointed in how it ends. This series might be worth it for some people, but I would recommend other dystopian reads before this one.

Rating: 3/5

Similar Reads: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting (The Pledge Trilogy #1) and Divergent by Veronica Roth (Divergent Trilogy #1)

Synopsis for Delirium (from Goodreads):
They say that the cure for Love will make me happy and safe forever.

And I’ve always believed them.

Until now.

Now everything has changed.

Now, I’d rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie.

Lena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love and leads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday and her treatment, when she falls in love.