Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - Delirium (Delirium, Bk 1)

Delirium (Delirium, Bk 1)
Delirium - Delirium, Bk 1
Author: Lauren Oliver
In an alternate United States, love has been declared a dangerous disease, and the government forces everyone who reaches eighteen to have a procedure called the Cure. Living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in Portland, Maine, Lena Haloway is very much looking forward to being cured and living a safe, predictable life. She watched love destroy...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780061726828
ISBN-10: 0061726826
Publication Date: 2/1/2011
Pages: 320
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 52

4 stars, based on 52 ratings
Publisher: HarperCollins
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Delirium (Delirium, Bk 1) on + 350 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I had higher hopes for this book. Although I read it within a day, I couldn't stay connected enough to the characters. The story was about a dystopian society where you are unable to love at all. They gave a procedure at 18 to all to prevent everyone to fall in love as if love was an infection/disease. I saw too many flaws in the story but at times it was lovely. Lena, the main character wanted to follow all the rules. Meeting a guy would open her mind and life to truths she might not want to learn but craves knowing. Content in the story (for parents who are curious for your teenagers) is usage of profanity, disobedience to guardians and others, some violence, underaged drinking, kissing, girl takes her shirt off as well as a guy, and talk of suicide.
GeniusJen avatar reviewed Delirium (Delirium, Bk 1) on + 5322 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by Andrea for TeensReadToo.com

In the world that Lena has grown up in, love is a disease. It's called "deliria," and when people turn eighteen, they undergo a procedure called the "cure." This ensures that no one is infected by the disease.

Lena has grown up counting down the days until she can be safe and cured. But the summer before her eighteenth birthday, the unthinkable happens - she falls in love! Caught between knowing that following her head and the rules of her community by getting cured will ensure a safe future, and following her heart, Lena struggles with deciding what is right and what is wrong.

Back when I read BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver, everyone was raving about it. And while I liked it, I didn't think it was as great as everyone was claiming. So when I read about DELIRIUM, I didn't get my hopes up. But boy, was I surprised! This book was so much better than BEFORE I FALL!

Right off the bat, I was engrossed in the story. A world without love? I can't even imagine having to live and not being able to feel things. I really can't fathom it. I am a very emotional person, so the idea of being "cured" of the "disease" is astonishing to me! But the way the community was described made it feel so real. Very scary! ( I loved the quotes that were at the beginning of each chapter - they were from "real" books talking about the disease.)

I quickly grew to love Lena. She tried so hard to be good and follow the rules, yet she knew something was wrong and she followed her *gasp* heart. And I loved Alex, too! What a sweet guy!

There are several surprises in this story. I have to say that I personally didn't like the ending, but that doesn't stop it from being an amazing story. The ending is good and it fits; it's just not what I thought was going to happen. It's been awhile since I have felt that strongly about a book and thought about it so much afterwards. So far, this is my favorite book of the year (both 2010 & 2011)!
Read All 17 Book Reviews of "Delirium Delirium Bk 1"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

reviewed Delirium (Delirium, Bk 1) on + 18 more book reviews
After hearing such good reviews about this book, I was looking forward to reading it. The book was not terrible but I was disappointed. So much more could've been done with the idea. I thought it started kind of slow (it took about 100 pages for it to really get started). Then once it got going there was just too much talk about how in love the 2 main characters were. Bottom line: I kept waiting for something to happen and when it finally did it was a bit too predictable.
reviewed Delirium (Delirium, Bk 1) on + 1436 more book reviews
This read reminded me so much of 1984 that I would almost be willing to bet that the author took her ideas from that much earlier novel about a world where people are controlled. The difference is that this novel is aimed at an YA audience and it's about love. Love is believed to be a disease so when young people reach the age of 18 they undergo a procedure that limits or eliminates the emotions they feel. The entire book is devoted to creating this unreal yet horrible world where people become like zombies, living and working as if that is all there is to life. Lena, short for Magdalena, is a teenager who, like her friends, have adapted to this strange world. She looks forward to the procedure until she meets Alex. Alex is older and attends a local college. He has a scar that indicates he is "cured" or has had the procedure. However, the scar is on his skin surface only. It's a way to live in this world without the "cure." Of course, Lena and Alex fall in love and meet whenever they can just to see each other. They are discovered. Lena is captured, drugged and tied to her bed while the date of her procedure moved up. With the help of her little cousin she escapes and the tale rockets to an ending that again mirrors 1984. However, it does reflect two important concepts - freedom and love are important parts of life. A good, good read.
Bernelli avatar reviewed Delirium (Delirium, Bk 1) on + 266 more book reviews
Great young adult suspence-fiction. I saw it on the bookshelf at the store on the Employee Recommendations shelf with the note, "if you liked the Hunger Games then you'll like this". And I really did. Obviously, this story is a lead-in to a series. Very good read!
spicedlatte avatar reviewed Delirium (Delirium, Bk 1) on + 15 more book reviews
Re-read January 2014 - because it's just so good!

After years of loving Delirium and re-reading it now, I realized that I never fully finished the book. And now I am sitting here after being finished with the book and dont even know what to say. The love, the pain, the shock, and the raw feelings from this story broke my heart all over again.

I know that the whole pointthe only pointis to find the things that matter, and hold on to them, and fight for them, and refuse to let them go.

Best part about experiencing this book as Audiobook the great narrator. Sarah Drew really outdid herself and really made my heart flutter with the expressions. There are no more words that I can say which can tell how beautiful and absolutely perfect this was. Turns out I suck at positive review because I am so overwhelmed with emotions but seriously guys - its amazing

It's amazing how words can do that, just shred your insides apart. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me - such bullshit.
luv2cnewthings avatar reviewed Delirium (Delirium, Bk 1) on + 55 more book reviews
Another love story taking place in a dystopian society...the catch: "love" is the control factor.

This particular story takes place in the city of Portland where state borders have electrified fences and the United States as a country has isolated itself from the rest of the world. The "blitz" does not refer to any of the World Wars, rather it refers to a time when the U.S. dropped bombs on citizens that would not go along with the "cleansing" process. The survivors live in the Wilds and are called Invalids.

Amor deliria nervosa - a.k.a love is a disease. So, at 18 years old those that have not been "cured" have "the procedure" and are processed. What exactly does this mean? The uncureds are taken to a lab where they are somewhat lobotonised. (No one exactly knows what goes on, but it is a description Hana, the protagonist's best friend, gives.) Those that refuse the cure are clubbed and dragged off to the labs anyway. Those that the cure doesn't work on are imprisoned in the Crypts. Sympathizers and Invalids (when caught) are imprisoned there also.

If someone is a relative of a Sympathizer he/she can be ostracized by society. This in turn will affect who he/she is paired with for marriage, which will also affect what societal hierachy he/she will fall into. (Typical haves and have nots scenario.)

Well, Lena has lived her whole life hearing whispers of how her blood is tainted with the "disease" because of her mother. Nevertheless, she grows into adulthood and counts down the days until her procedure with her friend Hana. Lena is portrayed as the good girl - too timid and afraid of society to step out of line. Hana is curious and bored and inadvertantly becomes the catalyst. When Lena meets Alex she tries to balance two worlds: her world and the world of the invalid's.


Genres: