Book Review: Pandemonium


Title: Pandemonium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Series: Delirium
Book: 2
Publication Date:  February 28th 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
ISBN: 0062101994
ISBN13: 9780062101990
Rating: 


I’m pushing aside 
the memory of my nightmare, 
pushing aside thoughts of Alex, 
pushing aside thoughts of Hana 
and my old school, 
push, 
push, 
push, 
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame

This series keeps getting better and better. It took me a couple of days to finish this one. One of the reasons was I found the pacing slow but I totally understand why the author wrote it this way. It was a relevant part of the book. Second, I feel like I have to pause now and then for every chapter I finish so that the details of the story will sink in to my memory. There are some delicacies where you have to fully chew the food for you to appreciate the flavor. That’s what happened to me with this book. I have to digest every event that unfolds for me to fully appreciate the story. 

What I love about this book is that it is unpredictable. I feel like "oh I think this will happen next" but then it turns out the other way. It's rare to find books like that. The story is told in alternating settings: the then and the now. Then was when Lena first came into the woods after her escape from the Zombieland. Now is the time after the incident when the invalids where again bombed by the cured. 

There are a lot of characters introduced but i will only include the major ones. Readers will love this book even more because there are new book boyfriends. 

Raven. Black hair, a pointed nose, bright green eyes, thin tight mouth, and creases at the corner's of her eyes, and hands as rough as willow, as big as baskets. So she acts as the leader of the group in the wilds. She found and took care of Lena when she first came into the woods she acts like she fears no one and is not emotionally weak but deep inside she's like any ordinary girl 

Tack. Black haired guy. He's raven's male counterpart. He doesn't talk too much. He always has a scowl on his face and some mistook it as being angry but that is just his nature. 

Hunter. Pale blond hair. I thought he's going to have a romantic liaison with Lena, and I was disappointed. It didn't happen though they became friends. He's a guy with a happy disposition in life. He has a different personality compared to tack. 

Julian Fineman. Eyes are dark blue, a steamy color. His hair is caramel blond and wavy, and hangs to his mid-jawline. Everything about him says right, too. Even his unblinking expression as he watches his father onstage is perfection and practice, the embodiment of a cured's controlled detachment. If you have read the first book, then you probably know him already. He's the son of one of the most powerful supporter of DFA (Deliria Free America). He's pictured as the martyr son who in spite of facing danger from undergoing the procedure for deliria, he's still willing to sacrifice his self for the betterment of the society as he was led to believe. When he and Lena got tangled in a kidnapping incident, he developed a special feeling for Lena without meaning too. He became conscious with the opposite sex and began to open up about his life and what he really believes. He became acutely aware that the world he lives in might not be what it seems to be. At first, I can’t picture them together but then Julian eventually gained my sympathy. I felt like cheating at Alex and at some point I even started to believe that Alex is already gone and won't come back. But of course, Alex and Lena are a package deal so I don't know how this love triangle will end. I just hope that no one dies in the last book. 

Lena Morgan Jones. The new Lena is very different from the past one she learned ho to live and survive in the wilds. Although, she's still grieving over Alex, she continues to live each day. She became a part of the resistance. I can say that in this phase, Lena learned to know what she really wanted to do. She decided to move on with her life and gave herself a chance towards happiness through Julian. She learned that there are some beliefs of the resistance that coincides with what she believes and decided to be on her own. Will she really do it? Is Alex still alive? Will Julian be his last man? 

The Scavengers. They are also invalids, but they don't stand for anything. They want to take down everything - burn everything to dust, steal and slaughter and save the world to flame. 

The ending was epic and I can't wait to read the next book. It got me totally excited. This book is highly recommended.

A world without love is also a world without stakes.
We need mantras, I guess - stories we tell ourselves to keep us going.
Birds feed; then they nest. Paint them any color you want, send them halfway around the world, but they'll always find a way back. And eventually they'll show their true colors again. That's what animals do.
At our heart, at our base, we are no better than animals.
If you want something, if you take it for your own, you'll always be taking it from someone else. That's a rule too. And something must die so that others can live. 

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