Delirium

Locations
Call Number: Teen Fiction / Oliver, Lauren, Teen Book / Fiction / Dystopian / Oliver, Lauren
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Pittsfield Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction / Oliver, Lauren	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction / Oliver, Lauren	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Dystopian / Oliver, Lauren	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Dystopian / Oliver, Lauren	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Dystopian / Oliver, Lauren	4-week checkout	Due 05-08-2024
Traverwood Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Dystopian / Oliver, Lauren	4-week checkout	Due 04-20-2024

Lena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love and leads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday and her treatment, when she falls in love.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review
Booklist Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Fiction Profile
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Great submitted by chloeandrews on June 19, 2011, 11:50am amazing book that really puts things into perspective.

Next book please? submitted by miss pyro on June 29, 2011, 1:23pm If you're horrible about waiting for sequels to come out, don't read this now. It ends on a horrible cliffhanger.

Wow submitted by Veroni2 on July 4, 2012, 7:14pm I am a picky reader but this book is really WOW. It has a lot of material about what love really is and what the sacrifices of it are. It demonstrates really well how very lucky we are to live in a country in which we are allowed to love and are not subjected to a surgery that takes our independence away. A great, moving, entertaining read.

Lauren Oliver submitted by khaddrill on July 7, 2012, 7:50pm Lauren Oliver is an amazing author! She really knows how to stir up reader's emotions. You're either crying your eyes out (Before I Fall) or so angry you could burst because you NEED the next book (Delirium Series).

Very Awesome book submitted by saira29 on July 8, 2012, 6:12pm This book is so good you won't be able to stop reading it!!!!!!!

Eh... submitted by jmock on August 1, 2012, 5:59pm Good book, cliche ending. Don't really feel the need to read the others. The cliffhanger isn't that horrible, so don't worry

One of the best books I've ever read! submitted by cmay18 on October 22, 2012, 10:08pm I absolutley adore this book! It really makes you think about how life would be if love was actually was a disease.The one thing I didn't like about this book was the beginning. I understand why the author made it that way, but it was kind of slow and boring to me. But don't worry, it picks up and becomes really good. I definitely reccomend this book!

Cliff hanger submitted by leett on July 4, 2013, 3:00pm The author leaves us at a cliff hanger. I hate it when it happens. I don't like Lena. Don't read until the last book comes out.

Good start submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on August 13, 2013, 10:04pm I had a hard time putting this book down.

The premise is an alternate United States where everyone gets a surgical procedure done that makes love impossible (without love, there is also no hate and so war is abolished). Lena, the narrator, is 17, only a few months from her procedure, and a complete believer in the system. And then, of course, she gets the deleria and falls in love.

I definitely don't buy the premise of the book. This country is too independent ever to allow the government to mandate an action like this story requires. I mean, we have children dying from preventable diseases because we allow parents to opt their children out of vaccines... do you really think we'd let the government remove our capacity to love? (And no, I don't think the government should mandate vaccines... I think good science and social pressure should make all parents of healthy children get their kids vaccinated!)

If you think soccer moms want to protect school funding, do you really think they'd allow the government to remove their ability to love their children? Never.

But if you allow the premise of the book,... it's really well done. Seen through a 17 year old believer's eyes, the system is beautiful and makes sense. Her discovery of an alternate, parallel community of dissidents shakes her, challenges her, and eventually sways her. It's a story beautifully told about friendship, your place in the world, love, and sacrifice.

I did get to the end of the book and feel like it was the wrong story, in a way. This is the story of Lena making a decision, but in the end I'm far more interested in how she lives with that decision than with how she made it. But it turns out this is only the first book of a trilogy, so really it's just that I read the wrong book. I'll be reading the sequel when it comes out.

Amazing! submitted by reneecantin on June 20, 2014, 8:09am I could not put this book down! It was finished in two days! Already reading Pandemonium

Kind of similar to The Hunger Games submitted by Josie Brown on July 26, 2014, 10:01am I also couldn't put the book down. Combining dystopian with romance is my ultimate bias in reading. I definitely want to read "Pandemonium".

Although I had heard of Lauren Oliver and her book... submitted by sumnera on September 30, 2014, 3:37pm Although I had heard of Lauren Oliver and her book, Before I Fall, I hadn't heard of Delirium or either of the other books that follow it in the series. The blind date description was an accurate one, as the book dealt heavily with the idea of love being classified as a disease, an idea I find most interesting. Overall, I liked the book. I thought that the love story was a bit predictable and the idea of an over-regulated society and bit overdone, but I found the amor deliria nervosa to be quite compelling and unique. An entire society based on the idea that love is deadly and destructive... We honestly can't argue the point. People do crazy things for love. We see it over and over again in literature, movies, music, theatre, television, and our own history. It takes us out of our right minds and can occasionally make us violent and, more often, make us stupid. But love has many more facets than romance. What happens when we take away parental love and nurturing? Or the love of siblings and best friends? What happens when an entire society loses its love and thus its passion and compassion?

Throughout the novel, Lena is a very relatable character. She has had quite a bit of trauma in her young life. Her mother committed suicide instead of receiving the cure, leaving Lena with only the haunting and forbidden words of "I love you" to guide her. She is ruled by fear and is unsure of herself, as many normal teens are today. But in her world, she can count down the days until she will receive the cure and not have to worry about contracting the deliria like her mother did. She is looking for her place in the world, but also trying to keep her head down and not draw too much attention to herself. She just wants a normal life without any more pain or trouble. I think most of us can relate to having this feeling every once in awhile.

But then her best friend, Hana, begins acting strangely. Hana is popular and beautiful and rich. Lena doesn't understand why she would be dissatisfied with her life. Isn't that what we all want in some capacity? To be popular and beautiful and rich? But Hana sees her life as short. She wants to have as many "real" experiences as she can before she has the cure. She begins listening to forbidden music and going to secret parties with dancing and alcohol and boys. Lena becomes very confused and fears that the worst has happened to her friend. She even joins Hana on more than one occasion to try to keep her out of trouble. Again, relatable. Many of us have probably had (or been) that rebellious friend who needs to be taken care of while experiencing life.

But Lena's attitude begins to change when she meets Alex (It's always due to a boy, isn't it?). He has all of the markings of the cure, a scar and a job in the society, but the way he talks and looks at Lena is different. He is mysterious and, of course, quite attractive. And Lena can't help but find herself drawn to him (and don't we all?). She finally realizes that she herself is showing signs of the deliria, but by then she is in too deep. Can she even live without Alex? How did she ever think that the cure was a good idea? And will she go to desperate lengths to keep love in her life? You'll have to read it to find out! I don't want to give too much away now.

Though the love story is pretty predictable in the way it plays out, the ending of the book is very redeeming in that I didn't see it coming. It is shocking and, quite frankly, makes the entire book a whole lot better. I can't wait to read Pandemonium and see what happens next!

Is love a disease?
I think the argument could be made for it,
but it is definitely a disease I want to live with!!

Rating
Overall, I give this book a 3 out of 5 hearts.

Meh submitted by lec.dank on June 17, 2016, 3:35pm Concept was kinda cliche and boring, but hey, if it's executed well, that's okay! Sadly, the plot was just as cliche. Writing style was excellent, however.

Delirium submitted by VickyB77 on July 27, 2016, 8:33am Oliver's great at creating this dystopian world and dumping you right in the middle of it. It's an interesting idea for a story, and I love the characters and details that Oliver goes into for everything. I had a hard time putting it down, always wanting more. I almost got in trouble for reading it at work! And as soon as I finished it, I had to run out and start the sequel the same night. Now I'm a third of the way through that on the first night! It's great!

Delirium submitted by c_zhang on June 27, 2019, 11:03pm Very cliche. For some reason, I couldn't get through the whole book. It just didn't catch my attention.

Delirium submitted by Varshini on July 30, 2019, 2:34am This book is pretty cliche and typical of a YA novel. Although it isn't bad, I thought it was good. 3/5

Good book submitted by jasonc1177 on July 31, 2019, 8:01pm Great author and amazing book!&