Parallel by Lauren Miller
Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
In approved places, every story serves a purpose. But forbidden books are so much more. Some of them are webs; you can feel your way along their threads, but just barely, into strange and dark corners. Some of them are balloons bobbing up through the sky: totally self-contained, and unreachable, but beautiful to watch.
And some of them- the best ones- are doors.
What a wonderful follow up novel to Lauren Oliver’s dystopian, Delirium. Where many sequels flounder or just fall flat, Pandemonium delivers and grows on its predecessor. The novel is split into alternating chapters of “then” and “now”. The “then” chapters complete the tale of what happens to Lena after Delirium finishes and she is fighting to escape and survive in the Wilds without Alex. The “now” chapters show Lena back in society as a Resistance agent.
Delirium left you on such a cliffhanger, I needed to know what happened next. Oliver managed to deliver a sequel where she strung you out the entire book before giving that information. Normally this is something that would have left me twitchy and irritated, however the book is just that good I never once felt exasperated at all. What you get is a book that isn’t shy of being harsh and painful. It makes you think twice about about how we behave as individuals and shows the strength and resiliance of humanity regardless of what is thrown at them. Where Delirium explores Lena’s growth and love, Pandemonium is about the darker emotions like hate and revenge all of which are still considered part of “the” disease, amor deliria nervosa.
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.
There were many scenes in this novel that deeply impacted me, often by what Oliver leaves unsaid, once scene in particular with Raven, Blue and Lena left me in tears it was so harsh and beautiful. The writing is just superb, I can’t fault it. Where Crossed so desperately tries to be poetic, deep and meaningful and falls short at the mark, Pandemonium delivers in spades. The story and writing is fluid, soulful you really empathise with the characters and can feel the hopelessness and uphill battle of trying to change their society.
Lena really grows in this novel, she states that the old Lena is dead and in some ways this definitely feels true. The new Lena is much tougher after surviving the wilds and joining the resistance. She at times seems numb and dead due to the shock of losing Alex and her entire way of life. There are a few new secondary characters introduced who are well done and really enhance Lena’s journey through the Wilds and I can’t not mention Julian, her new love interest. I wanted to dislike him, I really did but I just couldn’t. Julian, like Lena is all about discovery, growth and acceptance that they are different to the rest of their society. He is sweet, he is genuine and I really felt for him and could see the love blossoming between them even if Lena resisted and battled it.
I can’t sing this series enough praises. If you haven’t read Delirium yet, please go pick it up and get as hooked on it as I am. Pandemonium is a wonderful sequel and I am on tenterhooks just waiting to see how everything comes together in the final book!
Rating 
| Author | Lauren Oliver |
|---|---|
| Book series | Delirium: Book #2 |
| Genre | Dystopian / Young Adult |
| Publisher | Harper Teen |
| Published | February 2012 |
| Source | Purchased for Kindle |
| More |
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver at Goodreads Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver at Amazon Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver at The Book Depository |
25 Comments:
Right click to Save the Link Location & use it on your own website!
Kris S says:
I love this book too. Lauren Oliver knows how to build on a story, and with that nasty cliffhanger at the end I am DYING to read the final book!!!
Philippa says:
I know me too – I’m desperate to read it, hope it ends a brilliantly as the rest of the series!
Jennifer says:
GREAT review!! I agree with you so much! I loved the Then and Now format- I felt like the end of each chapter was a cliffhanger and I kept turning the pages to get to the next “Then” and “Now”. I really liked Lena in this book and her maturity. And oh my god the writing. It was so, so beautiful and like you said, poetic. It was STUNNING. And the cliffhanger of this book was like, “WHOA.” I NEED REQUIEM.
Needless to say, I loved this book and in my opinion, this is the BEST Lauren Oliver book ever.
Philippa says:
Cheers
I can’t wait for the sequel, the whole series is just brilliant!
Lynn K says:
For some strange reason I misread the title as ‘Requiem’ and I got super excited lol!
I’m glad to hear that it doesn’t disappoint. I’m currently reading Delirium and I also have this book on hand because I heard about the cliffhanger. >.<
Lovely review.
Philippa says:
Ooops sorry to get your hopes up! Having the sequel on hand is always a good idea – pity the third one isn’t out yet because Pandemonium ends with a super huge cliffhanger too!
Teresa says:
Great review! That cliffhanger was insane! I thought I was going to die, I kept trying to make more pages appear through sheer force of will! Sadly that didn’t work. I have a question, Team Alex or Team Julian?
Philippa says:
Ooooh thats a good question! I think I would say Team Julian at the moment, he realy grew on me in this book! I want her to have both!
Imel Cullen says:
I Haven’t read yet pandemonium but I like Delirium, great review for pandemonium, make me want to read^^
Philippa says:
Thanks it really is a wonderful sequel I hope you get a chance to read it soon!
Nicole@ The More the Merrier says:
I agree this book was really, really good. I couldn’t believe how different Lena’s life was compared to her life in Delirium. This is such a heartbreaking book and I can’t wait to see how things work out in Requiem especially after that ending.
Philippa says:
I know, she’s had such a tough life, I hope that there is some happiness for Lena by the end!
Thalia says:
That’s great! I’ve been wanting to start this series, as I own the first one and just never found time to read it. It makes me feel better about jumping in knowing the sequel is great, too! (:
Philippa says:
It is seriously worth reading – the writing is just superb in both Delirium and Pandemonium, you wont regret it!
Rebecca Hipworth says:
I think I’m about the only person who hasn’t yet started this series. As a dystopian novel lover, can you recommend me any more dystopian novels? Thank you.
Philippa says:
Wow so many great Dystopians! If you haven’t read The Hunger Games, that is definitely a good place to start. Both Divergent and Delirium are great alternatives if you have read Hunger Games already. For a more paranormal dystopian The Immortal Rules which came out recently is fantastic too! Hope this helps – I have a whole Goodreads Shelf for Dystopians so you can see all my rated ones there if you want more ideas
Rebecca Hipworth says:
Thank you. I shall check them out.
Katja says:
Great review! I loved this book too, even more than the first
beenjinksed says:
I have wanted to read Pandemonium ever since I finished Delirium. Your review only reinforces my desire to read it.
Philippa says:
Hope you get a chance soon!
Michelle L. says:
Loved Pandemonium! I was afraid it wouldn’t be able to live up to Delirium, which was simply amazing. This book was seriously amazing and I can’t wait for Requiem. Great review! I made me want to read Pandemonium again.
Imel Cullen says:
I Haven’t read Pandemonium yet, but I read Delirium, I like this book.. Delirium, my first Dystopia I read…
Ellisa says:
I loved Pandemonium! But you see… I’m kinda afraid of reading Requiem, afraid of knowing how Lena would make “the” decision for herself, or how Lena, at least, would face it. I don’t hate Julian, although I know many people worship Lena-Alex but I still think what Lena and Julian have is also beautiful, and I don’t want their relationship to be set aside just like that, when now Alex is in the picture. *Sigh*. I wonder, how Requiem would handle this…
Philippa says:
I’m so worried she is going to kill off one of the guys so that the decision becomes easy – I will be devastated if that happens
Andrea @ Book Stalkers says:
I’ve been dying to read this series!!