Book Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Title: Pandemonium (Delirium #2)
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Pages: 329
Release Date: 1st March 2012
Read in: February 2012

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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.

*Warning spoilers for Delirium*

For those of you who have read Delirium and saw how it ended. Yeah… can’t blame me for wanting this book asap.

“Love, the deadliest of all deadly things.
Love, it kills you.
Alex.
Both when you have it …
Alex.
And when you don’t.
Alex."

The first thing you notice when you start reading Pandemonium is the format. Delirium was straight forward, one sided, bog standard story telling. Pandemonium alternates between each chapter. But instead of alternating between different characters, like in most books, it alternated between Lena in two different time zones. These are known as “Then” and “Now”. “Then” are the chapters following the events directly after the end of Delirium. “Now” is based several months afterwards, in New York, where Lena is working from the inside to bring down a pro-deliria organisation. I loved that it was done this way. It just made me want to continue reading. As one chapter ends you want to continue but of course you have to read the alternate chapter before you can. And then it happens again and again ... until you have finished the novel.

This book was full of ACTION, ACTION, ACTION. In both time lines, we are following, there is plenty of stuff happening to keep you reading. Much more than in Delirium. My favourite chapters were defiantly the ones in the present. They popped a lot more questions and have much more suspense. Anything that keeps me reading and become distracted (yep I didn’t eat dinner) warrants a 5 star.

In the past, we get to meet Raven and a lot of other new characters. It was interesting to see how the invalids live although we didn’t get to know them as much as I would have liked. Surrendered to get the plot moving I suppose so not too down heartened.

Cue new boy on the scene. Meet Julian. He is the exact opposite of Alex. He wants the cure! Then he meets Lena and things start to change. I feel competition brewing. Unlike Alex, he has the naive likeability factor. You just want to help him out. Sometimes I get a little pissed off when a love triangle is introduced but this one makes me excited to get my hands on the next book.

One thing I didn’t like so much was the fact Lena spent a lot of time thinking back to Alex and not acting on it. She believes him to be dead and therefore is slowly trying to get over him and move on. However it would have been nice if she talked about him a bit more with other characters.

OMG! Lauren Oliver you are soooo mean.

Horrible cliff-hanger at the end of Delirium.
Horrible cliff-hanger at the end of Pandemonium.

NOW I HAVE TO WAIT A WHOLE YEAR!!! 

 

  Becky