Love: It will kill and save you, both

This quote completely sets the tone of Delirium by Lauren Oliver. The more I read, the more I believed in the words.
In Lena's society, which is the Portland, Oregon years in the future, Love is a disease. Those in charge have developed a 'cure', which is given to all citizens on their eighteenth birthdays. Having the surgery for the cure means a peaceful life where people are happy and set forever. Their marriages, jobs, and even how many children they have are matched for them. The only thing people need to worry about are the stresses of the everyday. Love, whether it be from a significant other or from family, is non existent. Lena has always went with the norm, assumed she was plain, and that things would be different after she was cured. Her mother committed suicide when Lena was 6 because she could not be cured. After 3 procedures, society could not cure her. So Lena's mother would rather die than go through another procedure. After desperately trying to get rid of the reputation her mother created, Lena looks forward to her procedure and accepts her place in society.
Then she meets Alex. Alex begins to open her eyes to the lies the community has been feeding her. She soon realizes that her family has been keeping a few secrets as well. Towards the end, Lena decides that the pain love causes is worth the risk.
This book reminded me a lot of Matched because of the dystopic society and the matching of people. In addition, the main characters in both discover the truth and try to break free of the norms. Delrium brought in the deep concept of friendship. Lena and Hana's friendship is so simple, yet so pure. They both risked their own lives in order to help each other. Her emotions, her questioning of authority, her love for Alex are so real.
I felt myself constantly being swept up in their sweet romantic outings. I have to say once I finished the book I was almost in tears because of the tragic situation her society traps her in. I believe this is a trilogy, which I am looking forward to. Unfortunately, because this book just came out, it will be a while until we get the sequel. I loved this book, quite the roller coaster ride.