Take Down The Walls

Lena has been on the run with her group. They are outrunning the resistance, surviving the Scavengers, and most of all trying to just live. In Lena's world, Love is the Disease. So many have been cured, but after the death of the governor of Portland, the world has broken out into an all out war. Her group and her have been searching for safety, praying for a chance to overcome the war and somehow come out on the other side. She has Julian, whom she saved from  the resistance, but things are more complicated now that Alex has joined her pack. Alex, who showed her the way of the uncured, Alex, who supposedly gave his life for her to escape, Alex...her first and true love. The book follows Lena and her group across the country through everything. The main goal, to return to Waterbury where there should be a group waiting for them with more people to create more of an impact. When plans change, Portland is where they decide to have their final stand off with the government, Lena's old home. The entire time she battles within herself...Is Alex gone and dead to her like he says, can Julian ever fill that void, will they all survive?
On the other side, Lena's old best friend, Hana as been cured. She lives a life anyone would want...she will soon be matched to the governor's son, Fred. But something isn't sitting right. She constantly things of Lena, her family, and the mess on the other side if town where all the uncured reside. Fred's previous wife is no where to track down, which makes the journey even more uneasy. The more Hana discovers about her husband to be, his plans for the town, and everything going on in this world, she starts to realize that survival is not only for the Wild, it is for the here and now.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver  is the final book in the series and represents a dystopic society where love is a disease and needs to be cured. However, the whole concepts spirals deeper as the books go on. Book one focuses on the outbreak: Love. Book two takes the reader into battle. You see the government trying to control this outbreak of uncured, throwing them to different parts of the city, opening fire without cause. Lena's strength gets her out of her town and forces her to reestablish herself as a new member of the Wild. Broken hearted, she fights, and throughout the journey discovers how the government is taking control of the issue.
I know a lot of my friends read book one and were turned off because it was too much love. Books 2 and 3 do not reflect her love interests, but the war. Honestly, you can see the similarities between the way this government chooses to react and the real world we live in. Reading the books, I was so taken in by the war, the survival, and the choices people had to make in order to keep going. Love is the main reason, but by book 3 it spirals so far out of control you aren't sure of the disease anymore. And I think that is the important thing to keep in mind. Sometimes you forget why you're even fighting a war in the first place.
Hana's point of view adds a whole other view because she's cured. She's on the inside. But the things around her start to unravel, and she has to make choices she could possibly die from. It makes the reader believe that maybe this whole cure they have in place does not work so well.
The characters are defined and strong, the concept is amazing, and the writing makes you want to read more. I truly believe Oliver did a great job with the build up to the "final stand", and she did an excellent job of keeping the reader interested. Trust me the romance isn't so profound that you want to throw up. It's done so perfectly that you don't even recognize it's there.
I strongly suggest this series. It's a great trilogy, and it truly does show the free world, the oppressed world, and how people represent each party.

"We give people the power to choose. They can even choose the wrong thing."

There is no before. There is only now and what comes next

In a dystopian society where love is a disease, Lena soon discovers the secrets the government is hiding. She manages to escape her life in "prison" over into the "wild". But, the boy she fell deeply in love with, Alex, did not make it over the fence with her. Despite this difficult situation, Lena finds herself becoming part of the Invalid community, where the talks of a rebellion are quickly spreading. She is swept into the fight forward in order to create a world where love is not a crime. Lena is thrust into a situation where she must use her senses in order to survive. Will her ability and strength keep her alive, and is she beginning to fall in love again?
Pandemonieum by Lauren Oliver was a great sequel to her first, Delirium. I really enjoyed the fact that the entire book was not focused on Lena's love interest. It, like The Hunger Games, focuses on the government and the people who are defending "the cure". In a world where it is wrong to have strong emotions and love towards another human, Lena and her group are trying to take a stand against this. Love is never wrong, and this book shows two distinct sides: those for the norm and getting people cured for the better of society, and those for the revolution and being open to love and the pain and joy it may cause. Of course we are introduced to the extremists, the Scavengers. These are people who are extreme in their ways, violent, and not really for or against anything.
I found it extremely interesting when they spoke of the riots and the government's hold on the society. It hits home in quite a few ways: conservatives vs liberals and of course you have your extreme outliers. Certain government issues that are constantly rioted about, and those people who would give everything for change.
I felt that is the part I liked the most about this book. Of course, Lena's love for Alex and the constant guilt she carries with her about him is so romantic and tragic. Her feelings of giddy adolescent love are very sweet, so it's hard not to love that part of the novel. But in my opinion, the government issue is the main idea here. Love is the delirium that needs to be cured, but in a society where love is wrong, what can possibly be right? The fight gets more exciting with each turn of the page, and it is very interesting to see how Lena transforms from a naive teenager in book one to a strong young woman in book two.
I look forward to seeing her progress in the third, especially because it appears the dilemma I TOTALLY CALLED FROM THE BEGINNING will be very much a part of her life.
I recommend this series. Even though the love and romance is a heavy part of the series, it stands for a different cause. It's not fluff, but it is a quick read because you're not going to want to leave it.

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.