Adolescent Lit. Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Lena Holoway, seventeen, always looked forward to her eighteenth birthday when she would receive the cure.  Before scientists found the cure, people thought that love was a good thing, but now they know better.  Falling in love, or catching the deliria, is a disease and once it has taken hold there is no escaping its grasp.  Lena believed that being cured would allow her to be safe and without pain.  The only problem is that with only months left until her appointment to be cured, Lena Holoway falls in love. 

Lauren Oliver's Delirium is the first book in yet another dystopian trilogy.  From the beginning, Oliver has reader's sitting on the edge of their seats trying to figure out just what Lena's society is all about as they attempt to eradicate love, pain, and feelings in general.  At the age of eighteen, an appointment is made for each member of the society to receive their cure.  While the exact steps for the procedure are not outlined in the book, it is suggested that the part of the patient's brain that controls feelings is removed.  In the novel, Lena transitions from a girl who completely trusts in her government and their way of operating to a girl who questions their ideas and recognizes that love is necessary for living a life that is full and complete.  

Oliver leaves readers hanging at the end of the novel, but thankfully book two in the trilogy, Pandemonium, is already out.  

Recommended for Grades 9-12.