Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Release Date: 2/28/2012

Publisher: HarperTeen

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 375

Flirt Factor: Playful

Overall: 5/5 Stars

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. 

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

Just when I thought the series couldn't get any better, Lauren Oliver writes Pandemonium.

HOW DOES SHE PLAY WITH MY EMOTIONS SO MUCH I DON'T UNDERSTAND

I'll try and keep this review as cohesive and spoiler free but my mind is sort of a jumble of love for Lauren Oliver this review might just be like me drooling.

Once again Lauren Oliver has created a horrible world full of believable characters. Almost all of the characters introduced are brand new and I love and feel for them all so much. I think that part of what makes this story amazing is how well each and every character is developed, even if they're minor. I'm trying not to spoil it but THAT ONE CHARACTER THAT GETS INTRODUCED NOW RUNS MY WHOLE LIFE and the ending had me so depressed.

This story features Lena after she has escaped into The Wilds and flashes between her time there and her time in New York with a group of invalids with whom she's created a new family. The flashing between what is titled as "then" and "now" was a really interesting way to tell two stories at once without overly confusing the reader. Gah it's so hard to type this without spoilers! I really enjoyed this plot line, I think that the way the story was presented was very interesting and different. The story had just enough emotional scenes to get me teary, scenes that showcased the invalid's love for each other that made me sigh, and nail biting moments that kept me turning the page.

If Lauren Oliver ever stops writing I think that Earth might just stop spinning, I touched on this a little bit before but you can spell perfection with her writing. I loved how she wrote Pandemonium really rough and short while Lena was in The Wilds, and then contrasted that while she was in New York. I think that that particularly showed the roughness of the world outside the city. Every scene was written so well I just wanted to weep while reading. Lauren Oliver stop being so perfect.

Finally, If you thought the ending of Delirium was bad, just wait. Oliver really knows how to how to take my heart and crush it into a million tiny pieces.

Well, I hope you could sort of follow that; and, if you are looking for line for Requiem it starts right here. Ugh, I can't wait another minute for it, let alone a couple months.

xoxo,
Shelbie