07 March 2012

Book Review: Pandemonium



Book Details
Author: Lauren Oliver
File Size: 340455 KB
Publisher: HarperCollins ebooks (February 28, 2012)

Summary:
I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, 
pushing aside thoughts of Alex, 
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school, 
push, 
push, 
push, 
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.
Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

Review:
Rating: 4/5

It would be somehow safe to say that Pandemonium is the most awaited dystopian YA book this year just as Delirium was the favorite book of the previous year.

For a person who isn’t into dystopian novels – I caught amor deliria nervosa. It was one of my favorite books in 2011 and it took me a lot of patience to wait for Pandemonium. And I was so glad it didn’t fall into the 1st book syndrome.

Pandemonium starts the moment Lena was on the other side of the fence, yes right after Delirium ends. She is on her own and is running for hours to save herself. This book brings us to a different world, introduces us to new characters and to a stronger and more courageous Lena whose completely opposite of the old Lena we knew in Delirium. The new characters are okay, they were almost real people but I miss the old characters from Delirium.

If the first book is light and romantic, this one is filled with adventures and action-packed sequence that will leave you breathless.

The story went back and forth between the “then” – when Lena was in the wilds and the “now” when she serves as an undercover for the resistance movement. Perhaps the only problem in this is the fact that I could not remember when the “then” and “now” connected.

And then there’s Julian. Although he’s likable, he’s a walking cliché (he’s the enemy, the epitome of perfection), and I am still on Team Alex on this.

Pandemonium is worth the wait. If the death of Alex broke my heart in the end of Delirium, the surprising end of this book had my heart thumping so hard I could hardly breathe. Yes, every review you read about how amazing the ending is would make you want to take a peek – but please don’t. It would ruin the surprise and you will end up bumping your head on the wall.

Now, if only Requiem can be released ASAP – it would be a lifesaver.


Favorite Quotes
“If you’re smart, you care. And if you care, you love.

“This is what hatred is. It will feed you and at the same time turn you to rot.” 

“We all need mantras, I guess - stories we tell ourselves to keep us going.”

“If he were less well trained, and less careful, he would say hate. But he can’t say it; it is too close to passion, and passion is too close to love, and love is amor deliria nervosa, the deadliest of all deadly things: It is the reason for the games of pretend, for the secret selves, for the spasms in the throat.”
ChuCha

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