Review: Delirium

Delirium by Lauren Oliver.

Oh, what to say about this. Well, this story takes place in future dystopian America where scientists have found a cure for love, which is called deliria in the book.  Everyone gets the procedure done and is then paired with their match for marriage.  If you disobey these rules and show signs of the deliria, or worse, sympathize with others, then there are very severe and harsh punishments. The main character, Lena, falls in love shortly before her procedure is done, and this book is her story.

There were lots that I liked about this book, but also, lots I didn't like.





First the good:

I liked the world Oliver built.
I liked Gracie.
I liked Hana, sometimes.
I liked the love story between her and Alex.
I liked the climax at the end....certainly did not expect that.


Now, onto the bad:

WARNING...SEMI-SPOILERS AHEAD
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The world that Oliver built was great, but it was lacking and I felt that the book fell flat. I can't even put my finger on the exact flatness.  Maybe it was the lack of action; Perhaps there was too much monologue in the character's head; Could have been the fact that Lena barely interacts with others which doesn't show us the world very much. It juts didn't have that believable quality to it...that realness that makes you feel as if you are the character going through this. There were a lot of unanswered questions to me.  For example, Lena's mother. I felt that that plot line could have been expanded, as could have little Gracie, and the parties. Whatever happened to all those people?  Does Hana still go to them? Does Alex? You would think Lena would want to take care of Gracie, or something since she understands her so well.  But no. I get it that Lena is in love, but she felt more emotions for a dying dog rather than little Gracie. That isn't even a joke! I wish it was.

I really wanted to LOVE this book, like other people, but I couldn't.  I loved it, but wasn't in love with it, if that makes sense. It was alright. Will I read the next book in the series? Probably. Hey, I want to know what happens!  But I won't be expecting any groundbreaking writing in the future.

What's in My Book Pile?

So I went to the library, and crossed off some of the books that I had in my "to be read" pile.  I definitely don't think I'll get all of these done before I leave for school this weekend, but at least I have them checked out for a couple of weeks.





My sister read Delirium by Lauren Oliver and could not stop talking about it for a week.  She was so excited she even recommended it for me in my Goodreads.  Now, I finally have time to read it. It seems like another one of those YA dystopian novels, but hopefully this one is enthralling and exciting.  From what I've been hearing, it is. Basically, in a nutshell, scientists are able to eradicate love, and the procedure is quite common.  But before undergoing the procedure, Lena Holoway, the main character, falls in love.

The next book up on my list is Heist Society by Ally Carter.  From what I gather, Katarina Bishop, the main character, is an accomplished spy. It seems to be a family past time.  Her friend comes to tell her that her father has stolen a famous mobster's art collection and is in trouble.  Now, Katarina is the only one that can help her father and steal the paintings back. It seems like an exciting read.  To confess something, I always wanted to be a spy when I was a little girl, so this is kinda like me living out my dreams, right? When Harriet the Spy came out, I put on my little raincoat and took my journal and walked around the neighborhood, just like Harriet, and--well, you get the picture.

One I am particularly excited to read is The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan.  It is the second book in the Percy Jackson & The Olympian series.  Yes, it is a children's book.  Yes, the movie kinda sucked. But rest assured, the book did not.  It took me a while to get into the first one, but after so many pages I was hooked.  I expect no less from this second installment of the series.
Percy Jackson is a demigod, a son of one of the Greek gods. They have a special camp for these children and it is in jeopardy. It is up to Percy to save the camp, but to first do that, Percy needs the help of his friend Grover who is stuck in the Bermuda Triangle.  Can Percy rescue Grover and stop the destruction of Camp Half-Blood?
                                            

    This isn't one I was particularly longing for or anything, but I saw it on the library shelf, and it looks like another fun, easy read.  It does look like another chick lit for me, but so what? They're funny and I'm hoping this one is, too. I felt like I could really relate to this one because the opening line of the summary is "Recent Yale graduate Megan Smith comes to Manhattan with big plans for a career in journalism and even bigger student loan debt: $75,000." 
I can relate perfectly! Hello student loans--I'll be seeing you next year when I graduate. Anyway, so Megan has a bunch of student loans and when her first job fails, she takes a back-up job: tutoring two rich heiresses so that they can pick up their SAT scores enough to get into Duke. And this is a promising line "Megan quickly discovers that if she's going to get her money, she'll have to learn her Pucci from her Prada." This sounds like my kinda read! Bring on the Prada.

Does anyone else think the bikini on the cover is kinda cute? Metallic is in right now...





I'm off to start putting a dent into these books.  Have a good Thursday!                          

Book Funk

So, I've been in a book funk this past week.  As soon as I finished the Shopaholic series, I was looking for the next best read.  I decided to start reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire, but I was having a really hard time getting into it.  I'm about 20 pages in, and I've completely lost interest.  I know that the play is very popular, that's one of the reasons I wanted to read the book, but I don't know whether to push on and keep reading, or just throw in the towel.  I wish I had blog followers to respond to me! lol

Anyway, I had planned to read The Summer I turned Pretty by Jenny Han, then  I was breezing through my Goodreads, and realized I already read this book and I didn't think it was good.  I mean, obviously it was unimpressive if I forgot I had even read it.  I know it has 4 stars on Goodreads, so other people liked it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.  So that was a bummer, too.

I'm going to do some research on Goodreads and see what I come up with. I can't spend this week not reading, it's my last week before my semester starts!! Library, here I come :)

Chick Lit Summer

So, normally I don't read that much chick lit.  Usually I stick to my one or two favorite authors of chick lit (Meg Cabot).  However, I define chick lit as short, easy reads that are funny; you don't have to think too hard to read them, and they make you happy.  Usually these reads involve a hot guy or two, a woman's point of view, and funny instances occurring with the main characters. I don't know if it was because I had such a heavy summer course load, but these books helped to keep me sane this summer, when I would have most likely spontaneously combust from all the school work.


I have basically been devouring any and all books by Sophie Kinsella.  I don't know how I haven't heard about her before, but she is SO funny and I love her writing style.  I noticed in most of her books she writes in present tense, which seems like it would be difficult to do.

1. Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic Series
I LOVED this series, and it was hilarious.  It made me laugh so much.  Yes, the first book has a main character who is extremely shallow and creates her own problems, but the other books are not quite so materialistic and from one girl who loves shopping to another, who hasn't wanted the newest boots from gucci!? (I mean...at least Becky Bloomwood can afford them unlike some who are poor grad school students. *ahem) This series takes you on all the wacky adventures Becky gets herself into, and I promise, you will be laughing.


Her other books she's written are just as hilarious (The Undomestic Goddess, Can You Keep a Secret) There are more but those are the ones I've read.

2. Mary Janice Davidson's Mermaid Series.  At first, I was hesitant to read these, because I thought I would never get into a book about a mermaid.  BUT, Fred reminds me a lot of early Betsy books (from her Undead series) and I love Betsy!  She manages to make the undersea world seem not so far-fetched and even though the plot was lacking in some areas, it was entertaining, and that's what I wanted to read most this summer.

Currently, I'm trying to find the 3rd book in this series; my library system doesn't have it and I'm debating if spending the money would be worth it on half.com.


Other books I've read this summer include: Advanced Review of Speech-Language Pathology, Complete Guide to Audiology, Language Disorders in Children....but for some reason, I didn't think anyone would want to hear a review about those ;)