Delirium, by Lauren Oliver

It’s been a while since I’ve read a book as riveting as Delirium, by Lauren Oliver.  The plot is unique.  It is a future dystopian world, right here in the U.S.  “Love” has been determined to be a disease.  Everyone goes through a surgical procedure when they are 18 years old to remove this emotion, and all its associated complications.

Lauren Oliver takes us on a tour of this horrible world that is chilling.  She has detailed many repercussions of this society, whose families are built on “pairing” two people together for marriage, whose parents don’t “love” their children, whose young people are segregated by the sexes, and whose government is so controlling that there’s a fence around each city and no travel is allowed.

Then there are the main characters, Lena and Hana (best friends), and Alex, who Lena falls in love with only weeks before her operation.  These teens, being “normal” teens, push the limits and ultimately decide to break society’s rules.  Oliver uses such vivid descriptions of their adventures that my heart was literally pounding as I read.

Delirium will be highly recommended to my students.  I think this would be a great literature read for a class or small group because of the discussion that could be generated.  This was a very emotional and enjoyable book to read.

This book was an ARC provided by NetGalley and read on my Kindle.  Delirium is published by HarperCollins.