Monday, April 30, 2012

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver [REVIEW]

      
Pandemonium
(Delirium #2)
by Lauren Oliver
Summary from Goodreads:

"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"

Rating:

I’m drowning in waves of moods and emotion with every part of Pandemonium... particularly the ending.

Let’s break it down:

Relief (by last few pages): Oh thank goodness they’re safe. Whew!

Happiness (seeing Alex’s name on the bottom of page): ALEX!!! *screaming uncontrollably*

Rage (flipping the page over thinking there’s more and finding it blank): O HELL NO!  THAT IS SOOOO NOT THE ENDING OF PANDEMONIUM!!!  Come on! *insert red faced emoticon with steam coming out of ears*

Impatience (looking at cover thinking I’m talking to Lauren Oliver): Are you seriously going to make me wait until next year to find out what happens next??? *annoyingly tapping fingers on table with my chin resting on my other hand*

Sadness (holding Pandemonium with both hands and staring at it expectantly): ...Does it really have to be that long? *on the brink of tears, desperately holding them back*

Weep (doing the puppy eyes): *sniff* *sniff* ...NO FAIR! *fail at attempt of not crying*

Distress (hugging Pandemonium and head turn up to the ceiling): PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME WAIT THAT LOOOOONNG!!! *bawling and begging*

... I know, not my best moments.

Now if you haven’t read the first book of this series, Delirium, I have to warn you that this may be spoiler-ish.

So, with Delirium, readers are introduced to Lena, a girl who strongly believes in the government’s initiative to rid the world of Deliria – love is considered a very contagious and dangerous disease. She’s the kind of girl who does what she’s told and is eager to finally get cured. That’s until she meets Alex and the rest is history. The time came when Lena doesn’t wish to take the cure anymore and attempts an escape into the Wilds with Alex. Unfortunately only one of them gets to cross over the fence bordering the city.

Now with Pandemonium, Lena is now an Invalid (as Alex was in Delirium). She takes on a new name and is working for the cause against the DFA. Her job is to watch Julian who is supposedly a role model to all, mostly of the young individuals of the society... and so here is where everything goes into hyper drive.  

 I have to admit that I almost put Pandemonium down while reading it. I felt like it wasn’t going anywhere and I started to question if the author just simply wanted to prolong the series. The constant shifting of “then” and “now” chapters were interesting but I didn’t see the point of it all. I know Lena had to adjust to her new life in the Wilds but I was getting really impatient with how long they were taking.

I thought this book was supposed to show readers how Lena was going to find a way to get Alex back but it showed me a deeper side of this dystopian novel. What I thought to be a series revolving on a love story had taken a different turn on the idea.  Also, the fact that Alex was said to be dead did not sit well for me. Hello?! I love the dude! Not cool to kill him! Just saying.

Anyway, I’m glad I decided to finish the book because all my questions and impatience with how long things were taking finally had answers near the ending. I know it’s a long wait but I can totally see why. It also serves justice to how Lena felt about her so-called new “friends”.

Another thing is: I know we’re introduced to a new guy here, Julian. But I have to say he did not win my heart over Alex. I hate Lena for even getting involved with Julian that way. *Grrr!*

Now with that torturing ending (go back to start of review for my reactions), Ms. Lauren Oliver, Requiem better be good!  *note grim face* LOL. I love your writing style. ^_^