Joint Review- Delirium Stories and Requiem + Giveaway!
By Lauren Oliver
Published on March 5, 2013
Published by Harper Collins
Source: Publisher
Published by Harper Collins
Source: Publisher
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.
By Lauren Oliver
Published on March 5, 2013
Published by Harper Collins
Source: Publisher
Published by Harper Collins
Source: Publisher
They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.
But we are still here.
And there are more of us every day.
Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.
After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancĂ©e of the young mayor.
Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.
Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.
But we have chosen a different road.
And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.
We are even free to choose the wrong thing.
Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.
Delirium Stories is a collection of short stories that take place between each novel in the Delirium series. Although they don't have to be read in between the actual books, I would highly recommend reading all of them before you read Requiem. Hana really plays a much larger part in the last book than I expected- if I wouldn't have read her short story beforehand, I would have been incredibly confused.
Requiem is the final book in the Delirium series. I was pretty fearful to read Requiem. Last books in trilogies tend to fall flat for me. All in all I really enjoyed Requiem. I have to hand it to Lauren Oliver- she handled the love triangle that showed up at the end of the second book well. Sometimes love triangles can be downright painful to read. Although I wasn't sure who I wanted Lena to be with at the end of the story (I tend to root for the underdog).
Requiem was everything I hoped it would be- exciting, dramatic, and full of dystopian goodness. I really enjoyed reading more about Hana. It was incredibly interesting to read about what happened on the "other" side. I liked Hana's honesty, and the struggle between who she was and who she is. I also really appreciated the hints that Oliver left that perhaps Hana's surgery didn't work, or didn't work completely.
Requiem was a fantastic book... until the last chapter. I legitimately went looking to see if pages had been torn out of the end of my book. ***spoiler alert*** Requiem doesn't have a resolved conclusion. We have no idea who Lena ends up with, if Hana survives, or if ANY of them survive. I have to say- it was a harsh way to end a great series. So for 99% of the book I give 5 stars. For the last 1% I give 1 star.
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