Book: Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel & Raven by Lauren Oliver

Published March 2013 by HarperCollins|208 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Delirum # 0.5 (Hana), 1.5 (Annabel) and 2.5 (Raven)

Genre: YA Dystopia

For the first time, Lauren Oliver’s short stories about characters in the Delirium world appear in print. Originally published as digital novellas, Hana, Annabel, and Raven each center around a fascinating and complex character who adds important information to the series and gives it greater depth. This collection also includes an excerpt from Requiem, the final novel in Oliver’s New York Times bestselling series.

Hana is told through the perspective of Lena’s best friend, Hana Tate. Set during the tumultuous summer before Lena and Hana are supposed to be cured, this story is a poignant and revealing look at a moment when the girls’ paths diverge and their futures are altered forever.

Lena’s mother, Annabel, has always been a mystery–a ghost from Lena’s past–until now. Her journey from teenage runaway to prisoner of the state is a taut, gripping narrative that expands the Delirium world and illuminates events–and Lena–through a new point of view.

And as the passionate, fierce leader of a rebel group in the Wilds, Raven plays an integral role in the resistance effort and comes into Lena’s life at a crucial time. Crackling with intensity, Raven is a brilliant story told in the voice of one of the strongest and most tenacious characters in the Delirium world.

I randomly saw this at the library and thought it might be interesting to read!  This one is the three novels set in the same world as Delirium trilogy, and I loved Hana but thought Annabel and Raven were okay.

Hana is definitely my favorite of the three.  I liked seeing Hana on her own, and something about her story really struck me.  Maybe it’s because she really just needed to have her moment of rebellion before going back to her life.

Annabel’s story was okay, as was Raven’s.  I could care less about Annabel, but we do see her life now and through flashbacks, but I’m so ambivalent about her that I can’t outright hate her story.  And Raven’s was just re-hashing what we already knew about her.

I’m not sure if the individual stories were published as the series was coming out, or if they were all published later on, but having read all three after reading the series has come out, I wasn’t super into it.  They didn’t really add much in terms of world-building, and other than Hana and Annabel, I feel like we don’t learn a lot about the characters. Annabel and Raven’s stories are also pretty forgettable, because I’m writing this several hours after reading Annabel and Raven, and not much has stuck.

I don’t know if re-reading the series would have made a difference in liking it more, or if, at this point I just don’t care.  And while I liked the series overall, I’m not sure if I liked it enough to read the novellas…which I did because I was curious.

2 stars.  Overall, it’s pretty forgettable, especially if you haven’t read the Delirium trilogy in a while.  And for me, it didn’t add a lot to the series or the world.