Friday, April 13, 2012

Jen's review of "Pandemonium" by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium (Delirium #2) by Lauren Oliver
Publication date: Feb 1st, 2012
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Number of pages: 375
Format: Paperback
Buy: Amazon | The Book Depository
Description: 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.
In which was one of the most anticipated sequels of 2012 comes the second installment from Lauren Oliver in her Dystopian trilogy. If you remember at the end of the last book, Delirium, Lena had barely escaped while her boyfriend Alex was trapped. When we pick up with this story, Lena finds herself on the other side in the Wilds where she soon is found by some people who help her adjust to this new life and find some purpose.

This book is a little different than what we are used to. We have two POV's. The THEN, and the NOW.. meaning it talks of the present and the past.
It can be a little confusing to begin with, but the more you go forward with the story you tend to get used to the tenses.
In the THEN tense, we have Lena and her new group of friends as they show her what this life is about, and how nobody has a past... you are who you are once you come to this place and nothing else matters.
In the NOW tense... we are taken to Lena in NYC where she is attending school, but also her true mission for being there is to keep an eye on the DFA -- Delirum Free Association. Her part/role is to follow and watch for the son of the head of the company, Julian.
When the two of them start to get closer together... Julian will start to wonder whether he knows what he is getting himself into, and start to ask himself if he is on the right team.

The chemistry between these two is so real. The way they get to know each other makes you believe that just maybe... she might belong with him.
But then, her heart also still lies with Alex. He might not in the book, but he is constant in her thoughts and her heart.
And the all and mighty cliffhanger in which we are left until 2013 with. It certainly gives you that 'oh no, you so did not' feeling about the end, and the dreaded feeling that we'll now have to wait a year until the finale.

I enjoyed the new characters, especially Julian. He was my favourite character from this new book, and I have changed to Team Julian. Lauren even wrote it in my book when I met her recently.
I admit.. while I did love Alex in book 1... I didn't feel the kind of chemistry with Lena that I did with Julian, and by the end of the book I knew whose team I was on.

                                                            Rating: 4/5

No comments:

Post a Comment