Alex by Lauren Oliver

Alex (Delirium #3.5) by Lauren Oliver ☆☆☆☆☆

This short story published at the end of Requiem was a welcome surprise. It only slightly took the sting out of the ending of the book.

This short story explores what Alex went through in the Crypts, things he never spoke out loud. It also explores the journey that brought him to the warehouse at the end of Pandemonium.

I've always been a big supporter of Alex. He's been my favorite since the beginning. He's the reason I cried the entire way through Pandemonium. So seeing his point-of-view and how he thought was a treasure. But it was also a great experience to see how those thoughts carried him through the events of his life.

I love that boy. Forever.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver ☆☆☆☆

Anger. Anger. Anger. That the first thing that comes to mind with this final installment of the Delirium series.

First of all, I was obviously way behind on finishing this series so I had been struggling against all costs to avoid spoilers where I could. I did catch one though that said no reader could possibly like the ending. I had that in mind, but a friend of mine read it before me and told me it wasn't as bad as others said. I had the consolation that Lauren Oliver said the ending was meant to allow a choice, not just for the characters, but for the reader. But ahhhh, my friend lied. The ending was way worse than I expected and she admitted she lied so she wouldn't give it away.

I'm not going to give spoilers either and say exactly what happened in the ending. However, I will say why I'm angry overall. I'm okay with open endings in books. Sometimes it's necessary so that we know the characters are moving on from the book and because sometimes we need to know that not all stories end with big bow of strings wrapped up and happy endings for all. I'm not naive to happy endings, I knew a war was going to break out. I made peace with that. What I didn't make peace with was a WIDE OPEN ending! There seemed to be no closer to the novel (or series) at all. I can't handle that, as a reader or as a writer. It killed me.

And even though I'm starting to move past my anger, it's still there gnawing at me in the back of my mind. There's nothing to do but carry on to the next book, the next series, after all. The ending is also the only reason I dropped a star on this book, because other than the ending I loved every minute of the book. And really, what can I expect when the one thing I hated about her other book, Before I Fall, was the way that one ended as well.

Raven by Lauren Oliver

Raven (Delirium #2.5) by Lauren Oliver ☆☆☆☆☆

It was really interesting to see Raven's point of view on the Julian rescue situation. Above all though it was shocking to learn about secrets Raven was hiding from everyone. That really changed to way I went into reading Requiem and made the events of that last novel have a strong impact on me. While I would have liked for Raven's secret to be revealed to at least one of the other characters, maybe it is better than none of them knew. It's still a twist I'm not sure I can accept overall, based on emotion. I don't want to believe it. But I guess the same could be said about the ending of the Hana short. I didn't want to believe it, but it was right there. At least Hana's secret became exposed in Requiem, especially for those that don't read the shorts.

Annabel by Lauren Oliver

Annabel (Delirium #1.2) by Lauren Oliver ☆☆☆☆☆

I was desperately looking forward to this short. Even more so when I was able to buy Delirium Stories to share with my friend (as she complained about borrowing my Kindle to read Hana with me). It was more than I could have hoped for. I expected a short tale of what Annabel has done since the end of Pandemonium, yet instead it is a telling of when she was a teenager and met Lena's dad as well as her time in the Crypts and what it took to finally escape. We're able to see sides of Annabel we would never see otherwise. Loved it!

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium (Delirium #2) by Lauren Oliver ☆☆☆☆☆

This book ripped me to shreds. But of course, there is more to say than that.

First off, the structure was really odd and hard to get used to. The first book had set chapters, each with it's own epigraph letting you in on a closer view of the world and society. This book threw all of that out the window. There were no chapters. Only a back and for between "Now" and "Then" with every other section (rather than chapter). Some sections were incredibly long and some incredibly short. And what was hardest to get used to wasn't the switch of time at all. It was the fact that there were no chapters because there was no way in telling how far I was into the book without numbers. Maybe that's one reason I couldn't stop reading, I didn't want to lose my place so to speak.

I have to say this is the fastest I've ever read a book. Or at the very least the second fastest. I started it at 5am, went to sleep around 7am, woke around 3pm, and have been reading non-stop ever since. And here it is before midnight. I can just imagine what would have happened if I hadn't gone to sleep at all. Referencing the book ripping me to shreds... I wish I had had some warning because I practically cried myself to sleep. I was so upset that I physically couldn't handle the pressure built up in me. And that is another reason I couldn't put the book down once I picked it back up in the afternoon. It continued to rip me apart and there just wasn't a place I could stop. I didn't even take a break to eat.

I avoid books that have such an emotional impact on me. And after a recent book series sent me into a downward spiral of depression that I hadn't expected, I was honestly trying to avoid emotionally impacting books even more. But towards the end of the book, in one tiny little moment a calm settled over me. So startling that I cried out and gripped my Kindle so tight I was afraid I was going to crack it (yes, literally). And in this one instance, the cliff hanger ending, I could handle it. I'm still desperate for the next book and extremely looking forward to the story it'll contain, but I'm satisfied for the moment and can move on to my next book easily.

I still think I need the rest of the night to recover from it though. I think my soul broke more than my heart did. Oh, Lauren Oliver, this isn't the first time you hurt me so badly, and I doubt it'll be your last. Your writing is beautiful and melodic, and after every heart break I swore I wouldn't read you again, but now I can't help it. And yes, this is where Pandemonium picks up the fifth star that Delirium and Hana did not. Requiem is going to be the highlight of March for me!

Hana by Lauren Oliver

Hana: A Delirium Short Story (Delirium #1.5) by Lauren Oliver ☆☆☆☆

Why yes, it is almost 5am. I just finished reading this side story and I wanted to put my thoughts down before I lost them.

This short story (more like novella length) is told from Hana's point-of-view, which is really refreshing. Partly, I like her point-of-view more. This probably explains my earlier aversion to Lena's point-of-view at the start of Delirium. But it wasn't the only reason I liked this.

There were a lot of things I wanted to know that went on behind the scenes, and I was able to see those things. It gave me a wider look of the story and helped me answer some questions. Questions that Lena hadn't bothered to ask Hana herself, or at least didn't think enough to relate them in her narration of events.

I even got to see how Hana first thought of Lena and how she began to see her. This idea, specifically in this story, made me ask another question that was not answered and I wonder if the thought is entirely my own creation, although it seems there is a set up for it. And the end was another cliff hanger, just like the novel itself. But, it was a cliff hanger that seemed to relate to a suspicion I had in the novel. It didn't quite answer my suspicion, only made me more suspicious about it. So in the end, it answered a lot of questions I had, but also left two gaping ones for me to consider. Oh well, I'm off to read the sequel until I pass out around sunrise, we'll see if those questions get any more answers or not.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium (Delirium #1) by Lauren Oliver ☆☆☆☆

I had high expectations for this book from the start, from the moment I read the synopsis. Love is a disease that needs to be cured. Yes! After horrible and severe broken relationships in my past, I could see exactly how this fear would develop. And I like the further description in text in that love is the cause of the heart giving out, from the bad (a literal broken heart) to even the good (the racing heart beat that accompanies butterflies in the stomach). Everything, all of it, causes stress on the heart that eventually causes it to give out. It makes perfect sense.

My issue was that I had a hard time initially getting into the story. I wasn't excited when I was reading it and didn't have a desire to keep reading like my life depended on it. Thus, it took several days to read it instead of my usual two days or less. The issue was world building. Although it is the present and can easily become a reality, there was just something about it that wasn't gripping me. Maybe it was that Lena was so stuck in her beliefs that I wasn't able to question the world with her as a narrator. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure what it was. However, I emotionally connected in chapter five when Alex was introduced. And it wasn't because I was hoping for a love story (even though I do love love stories). It was that everything started changing and the descriptions became a little more natural. And I was a little more excited to read than in the first few chapters when I nearly put the book down.

Overall, I really liked the story, and even though I had entirely planned on reading something else after this, I'm thinking I might just move on to the sequel. It's already out and I'm already in this world, so why not. And besides...it ended in a cliff hanger, and I hate cliff hanger endings. They make me sad :( The only thing I'm worried about is that I know the next book ends in an even bigger cliff hanger and I don't know if I can handle waiting so long for the next book after reading that. We shall see.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver ☆☆☆☆

I couldn't get into this book at first. The five page prologue could have been a self-contained story. The seventy-two page first chapter could have been a self-contained story. I just didn't see where it was going because I just don't get post-death stories. And then I get to chapter two and realize that this book is Mean Girls meets Groundhog Day. The moral almost felt like it was being shoved down my throat. But the more the characters developed, the more I found it harder to put the book down.

My biggest problem is that I tend to read books that are highly recommended before even finding out what the book is about. So obviously, when I don't read post-death books, it was a little unsettling to find myself in the middle of one.

The characters start out as stereotypes: the top of the popular girls/the mean girls, and then those that are bullied. But as each relived day unfolds the characters are revealed to be even more and more complex. This story screams high school and reminded me of what I was like that long ago, except that I wasn't one of the popular girls. I was more like Anna Cartullo (and I wish I could have seen more of her in the book). This book was just so real and it's something that every high schooler should read. However, there is the issue that it's aimed at mean girls that need to rethink their actions and I doubt any of the popular girls would read a book like this (if at all). Nevertheless, this story really went where it needed to go and more... I just wish the ending was different, it left me unsatisfied and empty, even though I know it was part of the point.