Delirium: Book Review

I recently got a library card... again... after not being able to use my other library cards due to large fines... which I won't really get into the details about. Ahem. Anyway, now that I can check out library books again and don't have to buy all my books on kindle, I've been reading quite a bit more. One of the books I checked out recently was Delirium by Lauren Oliver. I actually own this book on kindle and have read it before, but haven't had the time to sit down and read it again, so when I saw it on CD at the library I checked it out! First of all can I just say how much I LOVE books on tape?! I can actually still have a clean house while doing my usual amount of reading (aka- 2 books a week... excessive, I know).

But moving on. I loved this book the first time I read it, and I loved it even more the second time! SO good! For those of you that don't know, Delirium is about a future post-apocalyptic society, in which scientists and the government, have decided that love is a disease. They create a procedure in which they can remove the part of your brain that makes you fall in love, and then choose your career, partner, and even how many children you have, for you. The book centers around the life of Lena, a girl who is awaiting her 18th birthday, when she will receive the procedure. She, her best friend Hannah, and the mysterious Alex... an older "cured" boy... set out to find the truth about whether or not Amor Deliria Nervosa (love) is in fact a dangerous disease, or if there's more to the story than what the government is telling them.

This book has a little bit of everything; love, action, mystery, adventure. It's definitely something that would appeal to all types of people. Lauren Oliver is an amazing writer and executed the story line and characters perfectly. It's exciting right from the very first page, and never once did I have the urge to skip over the boring parts... because there weren't any! Another thing I really loved about this book, is that it covered a large span of time without skipping important details. A lot of times with young adult books, I feel like the story and characters are underdeveloped. Everything happens so quickly that you don't get to feel the relationships develop between characters, especially those with a romantic relationship. I mean, come on! Every girl wants to believe in love at first sight, but falling in love and going through a million crazy adventures in one weeks time and then pow! You're gonna be together forever? It's just kind of unrealistic and there's no substance to the relationship that way. The nice thing about this book is that Lena doesn't fall in love with Alex right from the beginning. I mean sure she finds him attractive and intriguing  but she's skeptical. She doesn't trust him. Because everything she's ever been taught, teaches her that those feelings of "love" are dangerous and deadly. That is what I love about this book. Alex has to actually do something other than run a hand through his auburn hair and bat his long lashes before Lena gives in. What a concept right?!

All in all would I recommend this book?
Definitely. 100%
For all ages?
Ehhh... maybe not. Just as a warning... The "F" word is used 3 times in an argument towards the beginning of the book. Other than that not really any more swearing. There are not any sex scenes, however there is a small part in the book where she has her shirt off in front of him. It does have some violent parts to it but nothing as bad as what you would read in The Hunger Games.
I would probably say it's on a mature young adult reading level.

But like I said, I totally recommend it. So amazing, and I will be listening to the sequel this weekend!

You can check out Delirium on Goodreads or on Amazon!

Mariasha