Delirium by Lauren Oliver
So, another one of my 2016 TBR books to cross off the list. I must admit that even though the reviews of this book are good and a lot of people loved it, I was slightly reluctant to pick it up. I was afraid that maybe the theme would cause it to change into a teenage girl terrible love triangle failfest rather than a thought-provoking dystopian novel with a serious undertone. It met neither of those expectations but landed in the middle. Aka the Magical Land of Blah. Maybe the synopsis will explain more.
Synopsis:
Delirium is about 17-year-old Lena, who lives in a world where love is considered a disease and everyone receives a cure at eighteen. (Can you feel my doubtfulness now, Mr or Ms. Reader?) Okay, I'm not even going to pretend to be secretive about it. We all know that she's going to meet this boy named Alex and that there are OF COURSE rebels involved in this book because HELLO! and then there's this doubt and escaping and mean government and-- Am I crossing the line with my skeptical synopsis? I'm sorry I just CAN'T.
The thing that just made me maddest of all was that this concept is so interesting and that it's wasted on another stupid ass love story with Romeo and Juliet references and that makes me MAD. That's what fuels my rage and I'm not going to lie about it.
Synopsis:
Delirium is about 17-year-old Lena, who lives in a world where love is considered a disease and everyone receives a cure at eighteen. (Can you feel my doubtfulness now, Mr or Ms. Reader?) Okay, I'm not even going to pretend to be secretive about it. We all know that she's going to meet this boy named Alex and that there are OF COURSE rebels involved in this book because HELLO! and then there's this doubt and escaping and mean government and-- Am I crossing the line with my skeptical synopsis? I'm sorry I just CAN'T.
The thing that just made me maddest of all was that this concept is so interesting and that it's wasted on another stupid ass love story with Romeo and Juliet references and that makes me MAD. That's what fuels my rage and I'm not going to lie about it.
Rating:
3 stars don't ask me how or why just take the gold and run.
It's almost weird how angry I am at this book and I still don't think it's even that bad. It's just that I hate it so much when books can be so good and they end up going in the wrong direction. And if this would have been a depthless book that I could enjoy, then it would have been fine. If I could have shipped it and cried and felt a hole bored into my heart I would have bought it with all the money in the world. But like this, no. I couldn't and I shouldn't have to take this shit.
Here's my rant I'll leave out the spoilers so we can all have a ranty time.
This book does have some things going for it, I promise. The world building is so interesting and the interconnection of science and religion made it something different. Still, in a world where love is a disease, there is so much to talk about.
How about the emotional trauma of being raised by parents who can not feel affection towards you? Or pain at your misery? Or joy or worry or empathy? Can you imagine what that would do to a child and how interesting and thought-provoking it would be if this book actually addressed this issue for more than a mere second?
And IF the romance was good, I wouldn't complain. It's just that the romance didn't engage me. That's one of the main jobs of an author and I felt like I was just not part of it. Their relationship was so forced and static and predictable that I just wanted to throw stuff. And I was reading the ebook.
Also, Lena frustrated me. Not necessarily because of what she did or anything, but because of what she was: the flat and boring depiction of a teenage girl that I did not relate to nor felt connected with. She was just there, insecure and bland and in-between and slightly offensive to all teenage girls.
And that's not even her fault, because if she were the only one, fine, but she is one out of a scale of bland one-dimensional female protagonists.
Now I hear you say that some of my favorites match that same description. Here's the thing: I don't feel like they're trying and they're doing a better job. Tris isn't trying to be relatable teenage girl #47, she just is a person with problems that we all face. She is her own individual self that deals with not feeling good enough for your community and not living up to stigmas and I love her for it. Lena is just a teenager with her stupid insecurity and her stupid fear of wedding nights and her stupid hysteria and I couldn't handle her. It's equally cliché but whereas one feels pathetic the other feels sincere. And that makes all the difference.
Delirium fangirls don't agree?
Sorry for the meanness. It's devouring me.
And then there's Alex. Alex, about whom I barely know anything. Alex who ruined this story for me with his stupid love. Alex, about whom I still don't give a shit. Alex, who was constantly giving her commands. Alex, who replayed the stupid Romeo and Juliet stuff. Oh, I hate him so much. I hate him for not being anything except for a male love interest in what's surely going to be a love triangle.
Side note: How interesting would this book have been if Lena had been attracted to girls? So complicated and matching with the theme of love in our own society. It would have made it so much deeper and more politically loaded.
Another thing I wasn't happy with was the ending. Here are spoilers for what the ending of the book won't be like: I hate that this book isn't a tragic stand-alone in which the protagonist eventually gets her emotions erased. Why? Because that would have made me respect the book for making a not-much-heard-of choice in a YA dystopia. Because it would have given the book depth and pain and made it creepy and moving and intense instead of a romance excuse for a science fiction subgenre.
This premise had so much potential and it was wasted on an unbelievable romance. Am I now done with my rant? Yes.
How about the emotional trauma of being raised by parents who can not feel affection towards you? Or pain at your misery? Or joy or worry or empathy? Can you imagine what that would do to a child and how interesting and thought-provoking it would be if this book actually addressed this issue for more than a mere second?
And IF the romance was good, I wouldn't complain. It's just that the romance didn't engage me. That's one of the main jobs of an author and I felt like I was just not part of it. Their relationship was so forced and static and predictable that I just wanted to throw stuff. And I was reading the ebook.
Also, Lena frustrated me. Not necessarily because of what she did or anything, but because of what she was: the flat and boring depiction of a teenage girl that I did not relate to nor felt connected with. She was just there, insecure and bland and in-between and slightly offensive to all teenage girls.
And that's not even her fault, because if she were the only one, fine, but she is one out of a scale of bland one-dimensional female protagonists.
Now I hear you say that some of my favorites match that same description. Here's the thing: I don't feel like they're trying and they're doing a better job. Tris isn't trying to be relatable teenage girl #47, she just is a person with problems that we all face. She is her own individual self that deals with not feeling good enough for your community and not living up to stigmas and I love her for it. Lena is just a teenager with her stupid insecurity and her stupid fear of wedding nights and her stupid hysteria and I couldn't handle her. It's equally cliché but whereas one feels pathetic the other feels sincere. And that makes all the difference.
Delirium fangirls don't agree?
And then there's Alex. Alex, about whom I barely know anything. Alex who ruined this story for me with his stupid love. Alex, about whom I still don't give a shit. Alex, who was constantly giving her commands. Alex, who replayed the stupid Romeo and Juliet stuff. Oh, I hate him so much. I hate him for not being anything except for a male love interest in what's surely going to be a love triangle.
Side note: How interesting would this book have been if Lena had been attracted to girls? So complicated and matching with the theme of love in our own society. It would have made it so much deeper and more politically loaded.
Another thing I wasn't happy with was the ending. Here are spoilers for what the ending of the book won't be like: I hate that this book isn't a tragic stand-alone in which the protagonist eventually gets her emotions erased. Why? Because that would have made me respect the book for making a not-much-heard-of choice in a YA dystopia. Because it would have given the book depth and pain and made it creepy and moving and intense instead of a romance excuse for a science fiction subgenre.
This premise had so much potential and it was wasted on an unbelievable romance. Am I now done with my rant? Yes.
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