Delirium

It is hard not to compare Delirum to Westerfeld’s Uglies series. Not that that is a bad thing, both are very good and if you have not had a chance to check out Westerfeld, I highly recommend it.

"It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure."

First, you have to admit that is quite a catchy way to start a book, especially a book aimed at young teen readers.

Lena Holliday is nearly 18, the year in which she is to undergo the treatment that will prevent Amor Deliria Nervosa, an insidious disease that affects your mind so that you cannot think clearly, or make rational decisions about your own well-being. In only 95 days, she will no longer have to fear that this disorder will affect her and she will be able to lead a perfectly normal life without the dangers of love and not have to face the madness that those from the old days had to endure.

Set within the borders of Portland, Maine, an area sealed to prevent the spread of this disease, Lena lives a controlled life, a life watched over by the Regulators who are always on the lookout for symptoms of this disease. She looks forward to not having to live in fear that her mind and body will one day turn against her.

Not wanting to live the quiet desperation that her mother faced, when three unsuccessful procedures left her uncured, Lena looks forward to the security of this life changing procedure. That is until she un-expectantly meets a boy that will forever change her belief, a boy that will show her a world that she has never known, a forbidden place that offers beauty and wonder.

Lauren Oliver grabs you quickly from the beginning and slowly weaves you to a climatic ending that has you wanting to grab her by the collar and shake her until she tells you want happened. I have not been this impressed by an ending in quite a long time and I commend Ms Oliver for piquing my curiosity.