Pandemonium - Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium (Delirium #2) - Lauren Oliver

Grade: YA

Rating: 4/5 stars

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. (description from Goodreads)

~ * ~ * ~

There’s something about the way Lauren Oliver writes that makes my heart pump like I’ve been running a marathon (it could be the use of short sentences, but I’m not to sure). Whatever it is, I like it.

I was warned about this book before reading it. I was warned that I would find it sad. The warning was right, I did. I found it sad, heart wrenching, frustrating and numerous other things.

As I sit here, I find myself struggling to write a review. There are a couple of reasons for this. One, the blurb gives nothing away, so no matter what I say it could be considered a spoiler. The second reason is that though I liked the book- it was very well written, it kept me entertained, the world was dark and dangerous; just how a good dystopia is meant to be- I felt like it was missing “something”. Delirium had that “something” (yes I’m using “something” instead of telling what it is), and it made Delirium AMAZING! Instead I felt, well, kind of sad and disappointed.

Pandemonium starts with the present (using the term “Now” as the chapter heading), and the following chapter changes to the past (“Then”). It continues to flip throughout the novel, until the end, where the past links back to where they are in the present. At the start it was a little confusing but I soon fell into the pattern.
The past begins where Delirium left off; Lena running in the Wilds alone and afraid. She’s injured and believes that Alex is dead. She is saved by a group of Invalids, and that it where the story of Pandemonium really begins. This novel is full of new characters, some I really liked and others not so much. But I’ve never read a series where in the second novel we get a whole new set of characters. To be honest, the reason why I didn’t give this 5 stars was because I liked the characters in Delirium better. And even though Lena is in the Wilds now, I was hoping we would still see the old characters again.

Saying all this, I did like Pandemonium, but I guess it wasn’t what I was expecting. I also can not believe how this book ended. What are authors doing to us with these incredibly mean endings? I can’t wait for book 3 but I’m also terrified of it. I can only hope its going to end the way I want.

Kerrie

(Originally posted on Goodreads)