Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: February 1, 2011
Hardcover: 448 pages
Where’d I Get It: eGalley

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love — the deliria — blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

My Thoughts: I do love a good dystopian, and this is most certainly good…and dystopian.  Lena is an interesting character, mostly because despite seeming like a mindless sheep initially, she actually -isn’t-. There’s a lot I liked about this novel, and I think expressing every bit of that would just be a trifle too spoilery and I tend to avoid that as often as possible.  The ending was perfectly set up to allow for future books in the series (and I am OH so glad that it’s a series), and though I was expecting something explosive, I was still a touch stunned by what happened.  That, dear reader, brings me to something that is bugging me just a bit…and I’m hoping it’s cleared up or explained in the next novels.  How did this world become as it is? What brought them to this point? Who made the decisions to create this society of love-less people?  I know the opening mentions “the president” made decisions, but…still and all, I’m confused over it.  I’d like some answers in the next book, and I’m going to just assume they’ll be there.  I do want to mention that I absolutely love Lauren Oliver’s writing style.  She’s able to make words flow so easily and I was easily able to focus on the scene she was describing rather than being distracted by choppy sentences and irregular grammar.  This book disturbed me (I do enjoy being pulled into a book and actually feeling as I’m reading) – the thought of not being able to love? That’s simply incomprehensible to me, and to even ponder living in that world is horrifying.  Ah, well.  I don’t live there, so I can love this book.  I’m anxiously looking forward to the next one!

Rating: 8 of 10

Bella Factor: Not at all.