Book: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Publishing Info: 441; Hardcover; Published by HarperTeen

Delirium is set in Portland, Oregon, and is about a society that believes love (deliria) needs to be cured because of the problems it causes for society.  The government demands that everyone gets cured when they’re 18, because it doesn’t work on anyone under the age of 18.  Lena has looked foward to it, until she mets Alex 3 months before she’s supposed to be cured.

I liked it, and found the idea that love is a disease that has been (mostly) eradicated very interesting.  It seemed like everyone feared love, but I myself didn’t feel very scared of love at all.

I loved that the chapters were headed by nursery rhymes, playground chants, schoolbooks, government pamhplets and The Book Of SHHH, amongst other things. 

One thing I’m curious about, and something that wasn’t fully explained, was why love is considered a disease, and how they cure it.  It’s surgery- I think brain surgery- but other than that, we don’t know the specifics.  Perhaps it will be revealed in one of the other books in the series?  It’s mentioned what the symptoms of deliria are, but nothing about why it’s considered bad…and almost contagious. 

It gets a 3 out of 5.  It’s very imaginative and clever, and Oliver does have a way with words.  But there was something missing from it.  Still, I’m intrigued enough to read the next one.