Pandemonium: Lauren Oliver

This is the second book in the Delirium Series.  So there will be spoilers about the first book!  You've been warned. =]

Alright, I just finished this book about 2.5 seconds ago and I figured I'd just write a review right now while everything is fresh in my head.
This book was just...meh for me.  There was some good parts to it, but I felt like there were too many coincidences.  She should have died about a billion times in this book but somehow she was miraculously saved each time.  So it was a bit of a stretch for me.  I don't know if it's the fact that I've read too many books like this, which I don't think I have or the fact that it was too predictable.  But I'll go with the latter.  I had quite a few moments of... "I called it."  Which was alright, but at times it was like...come on.  But I will admit, it is a good cliff hanger.  About the last page and a half, it's like...really!?  I mean I knew it was coming, but I just figured there would be a little more closure to it rather than just that one worded ending to the book.

The book is formatted differently than I've seen most books.  It actually reminded me more of a movie.  The chapters went from "then" to "now".   I actually really liked it.  It would go from how she became an Invalid and also you get to know other characters.  And then it shoots you back to the 'now' where she's back in a deliria free society.

Well, after losing Alex when they escaped...or well she escaped.  She runs, and she just keeps running. She never makes it back to Alex's encampment.  Instead she almost dies, but is rescued by some Invalids.  She ended up running 60 miles.  She soon becomes integrated into their little 'family'.  But as winter gets closer they all need to start to migrate to a warmer place and they start to make their way to Delaware.  All of that is in the 'then' chapters.
And in the 'now' chapters, she's been invalidated into a society in New York.  There's a rally and she needs to keep an eye on Jullian Fineman, no matter what.  And then all hell breaks lose.  They end up in a situation where they are forced to be together for...maybe two weeks? <---it's kinda fuzzy with the timeline. That's about all I'll say, because I don't want to spoil anything.

Characters to know:
Lena:  Main character, of course.  She's heart broken after losing Alex and constantly dreams about him.
Tack:  He's part of the Resistance.  He infiltrates New York with Lena and Raven.
Raven:  Raven, a few years older than Raven.  She seems almost older though, wiser I suppose.  She is closed off and refuses to talk about the past with anyone.  She claims that it's over and there's no more to be said about it.  Lena often recites some of Raven's mantras.
Jullian: The son of Thomas Fineman.  He was very sickly as a young child and had cancer.  The procedure may kill him, but that's what he's willing to do to support the procedure and a deliria free society. 
Hunter:  He's part of the Resistance and becomes on of Lena's friends. He was known as an Unnatural.  It doesn't go into much detail, but I'm assuming that means he's homosexual.
Alex:  He doesn't really need to be addressed, but he is the boy Lena is heart broken over and longs for.
Thomas Fineman (Jullian's father): Kinda like the leader of New York, he's a bit a butthead!

Spoiler alert after this!  It's my reaction to the ending, I had to share it. =]

Delirium: Lauren Oliver

This again, is another book I picked up on a whim.  It was on a book and it was on a book list.  I had had some online friends suggest it about a million times.  I took the plunge and read it.
I didn't know anything about the book, so I did a little research and found out that it was about a society that viewed love as a disease.  That sparked my interest.  I kept wondering about what a society would be like without love and how did they get rid of love?

Of course I figured there would be love in the book, and that it would be forbidden...blah blah blah.  Romeo and Juilet.  It takes place in Portland, Maine and this society is surrounded by an electric fence.  Kinda like The Hunger Games, but I let it go.  

The people in the society called the world outside the fence, The Wilds.  There are said to be people who live out there, but most people just think they're just rumors.  There was a bombing years ago that was supposed to kill all the people in the Wilds.    Throughout the book Lena is counting down the days until her procedure.  The procedure is the cure for 'love'.  People usually have the procedure on their 18th birthday because it's the safest time.  The brain is finishing development but severe cases of the 'disease' they will do the procedure early, but it can have severe side effects.

While I wouldn't say this book is gonna make it into my list of favorite books, but it was pretty thought provoking.  And of course I do love dystopian novels.

Characters to know:
Lena: The book is in Lena's perspective.  Her mom committed suicide when she was young and she lives with her aunt now.  She's preparing to have THE procedure.
Hana:  Lena's best friend, the often go running together.  Hana starts getting into things that are illegal.
Alex:  He's a security guard, and also a college student.  Lena and Hana meet him while trespassing while he's on watch.  He's got a lot of secrets, and soon because Lena's crush.
Aunt Carol:  Lena lives with Aunt Carol and her family.  Aunt Carol has had the procedure and is excited that Lena is getting hers.
Rachel:  Lena's sister.  She had the procedure only after being infected by the disease known as love.
Grace:  While Grace's character isn't huge, I thought I'd mention her because I really like her.  She's about 6...I think.  And she hasn't talked since her mother died....except when she has nightmares and only Lena hears her.
Lena's Mother:  The had the procedure 3 different times, but it never worked.  Before the fourth procedure she committed suicide.  Lena was young when it happened and always wished that her mother had really just run away into The Wilds.