Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Pages: 375pgs

The Story

I'm pushing aside

the memory of my nightmare,

pushing aside thoughts of Alex,

pushing aisde thoughts of Hanna

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.

The Review

PANDEMONIUM is the second installment of Lauren Oliver's Delirium series. For those who have yet to read the first book, this book is set sometime in the distant future, where love is viewed as a disease and all young people are cured for it so they can no longer feel love. However, the last time we saw the main character, Lena, she was on the run after narrowingly escaping her so-called perfect and 'cured' society, and she's now living her life in the wilds. While her mind will never forget a boy named Alex, someone she loved dearly and whom was captured, she is trying her best in surviving the outside world and all sorts of trouble that soon comes her way: New dangers. New rules. New society. New love.

Now I'm happy to say that I was really, really surprised by this sequel. Not only was this book far more enjoyable but it also exceeded my expectations. Delirium, the first book in this YA trilogy series, was an okay read for me but it didn't really offer anything special to me despite its received high praises. But in this sequel's case . . . I'm officially back on board with this series. PANDEMONIUM had everything of a reader's dream - a fast-pacing plot, non-stop action-packed sequences, a few little surprises I didn't see coming, and also some new characters that entertained me at their very best. Sure, the only thing I struggled with was the switching of the past and the present scenes, which wasn't a favourite method of mine, but it was nonetheless thrilling and captured my full attention!

Concerning the characters, I was yet again surprised by the detailed of them and the depth Lauren Oliver pulled them through. Lena was an okay main heroine in the first book, but I wasn't a fan of her. Since then and since reading this sequel, I've completely changed my mind about her. Shocker, I know! Lena this time was much more stronger and she had a much thicker skin when she began fighting for what she truly believed in, and while she continues to miss Alex with all her heart and soul, a love interest from the previous book, she still manages to push through everything and continue living her life the best it can be. For now at least.

The same goes with another introduced character, a boy named Julian, whom is also another possible love interest for Lena's future. For those readers who know me well, I'm not a huge fan of love triangles unless they are written perfectly and in the way I like them to be written. Though in this sequel, I think Lauren Oliver did such a great job in handling this upcoming love triangle ahead of us. For sure, Alex may not be present at all in this book, so it was completely understandable why Julian was introduced to offer some complication and some heartache for our Lena, but while Alex was a great love interest and opened up our Lena to the real world, I still couldn't help myself in adoring Julian despite his own issues he presented to us. By adored, I mean . . . I think I like him even more than our man Alex or rather they are both on the same playing field now and I'm - like right now - struggling whom to like more than the other. Though I have to admit, Julian was really refreshing and I loved how he helped Lena through her grief . . . so of course I couldn't help but love, love, love him! Yes, as you can see, I can't stop gushing about him!!!

Overall, PANDEMONIUM was the redemption of a book series that I was so desperately looking and it was also a sequel worthy of all the high praises it has been given recently. If you weren't a fan of Delirium like I was, than this sequel will most definitely change your mind as soon as you start reading the book and with a shocking cliffhanger being delivered towards the end of the book . . . it will have you gearing up for the final installment, which won't come sooner enough! Argh!!!

The Rating

4 1/2 / 5 stars