Delirium

Erin Tsow
Period 2, Mr. Oncay

Book Review: Fall 2015

11/10/16

REVIEW: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

ISBN#: 9780061726835

THE STORY:

Lena Haloway lives in Portland, Maine, in a society that labels love as a dangerous disease called amor deliria nervosa. Everyone eighteen or older must take the Cure, which is a procedure that rids someone from feeling love. After witnessing how love destroyed her sister and mother, Lena spent most of her life believing in the government and Cure, and cursing the deliria. Her thoughts and beliefs start to change when she meets an Invalid named Alex. Past the border of Portland, Maine, is where the Wilds lay. Invalids, or people who are not cured, are said to live there. Lena meets Alex, a boy from the Wilds, when she and

Hana, her best friend, were on their daily run. Throughout the book, Alex teaches Lena about new things in life and emotions she has never had before. She starts to think that love is not a disease and starts to rebel against the government. She wants to choose who she wants to love. Lena learns that Alex is not the only person from the Wilds and that many people from the inside are rebelling in their own ways. As her procedure date is drawing near, Alex tries to convince Lena to run away into the Wilds with him. She is reluctant to go with him, since she does not want to leave her family and friends behind. She finally decided to leave Portland and escape into the Wilds with Alex. As Lena and Alex are preparing to go to the Wilds, they are caught by regulators. Lena is captured and locked in her room, but Alex is able to run away. Alex helps Lena breakout and they try to escape into the wilds again. Throughout the story, Lena learns about love, sacrifice, and the power of her decisions. (299)

MY OPINION:

Delirium is a beautifully written book with descriptive language that provides rich and clear imagery. The author includes a variety of details and describes every scene expertly. The author also expresses each of the character’s emotions perfectly. The characters are realistic, which helps me understand them. Since the author is very descriptive, I feel like I can feel the characters’ emotions and what they are feeling. Although the writing is beautiful and descriptive, I thought Delirium was more of a slow paced book. Lena, the main character, takes a long time to change and develop into someone who stands against society. Even though the development in Lena is slow, the author makes her transition from a person who followed society to someone rebelling against society, graceful and beautiful. The story itself, takes a while to unfold. I think that the concept of the book was very different and original. I have not read or heard of another book that used love as a disease. Some words in Delirium are more difficult to understand than others. I would recommend this book to older middle school students and younger high school students. Overall, I would rate this book eight out of ten stars. (201)

STUDY QUESTIONS AND VOCABULARY:

FIRST SECTION

1. Why do the scientists prefer to do the procedure to cure amor deliria nervosa on people eighteen or older?

1a. People could get brain damage, partial paralysis, blindness, or worse if the procedure was done when they were younger than eighteen. The scientists prefer doing to procedure on people eighteen or older to avoid the possible side effects. (pg. 2)

2. Who is the boy that was on the observation deck?

2a. The boy that was on the observation deck is named Alex. (pg. 61)

3. Who is Magdalena(Lena) named after?

3a. Lena is named after Mary Magdalena, who was nearly killed from love (the deliria). She was believed to be the first person cured. (pg. 87-88)

4. What happened to Lena’s parents?

4a. Lena’s father died of cancer. (pg. 116) Her mother died of the deliria and killed herself. (pg. 6, 115)

5. Before the evaluations, where has Alex seen Lena?

5a. Alex has seen Lena multiple times in Monumentum Square. He worked at a store in Monumentum Square and saw Lena and Hana running past the Governor, which is a statue in Monumentum square. (pg. 139-140)

indicted (pg. 8)

linoleum (pg. 25)

palatable (pg. 41)

filament (pg. 74)

subsidize (pg. 135)

MIDDLE SECTION

6. Who is Alex?

6a. Alex is an Invalid who came from the Wilds. (pg. 168)

7. Who are Lena and Hana matched with?

7a. Lena is matched with Brian Scharff and Fred Hargrove is matched with Hana. (pg. 185-186)

8. What happened to the Richardson’s dog?

8a. Riley, the Richardson’s dog was injured by the regulators and was left to die. (pg. 203, 208)

9. Who saves Lena from the regulators?

9a. Alex saves Lena from the regulators when she is injured by their hunting hounds. (pg. 218-219)

10. What is the trailer in the Wilds filled with?

10a. The trailer in the Wilds is filled with books. Most of the books contain poetry. (pg. 294)

infuriating (pg. 160)

eddy (pg. 162)

astringent (pg. 222)

insubstantial (pg. 279)

cacophony (pg. 291)

                               

LAST SECTION

11. During Lena’s meeting with the Scharffs, why does Lena leave the room embarrassed and ashamed?

11a. During Lena’s meeting with the Scharffs, Lena leaves the room embarrassed and ashamed because Brian Scharff stated that she was not as pretty as she was in the pictures. (pg. 314-315)

12. How do Alex and Lena enter the Crypts?

12a. Alex and Lena enter the Crypts by deceiving the entrance guard. Alex uses his false identity as a guard, and he tells the guard that Lena had an incident at her evaluation and needed to be reminded about the dangers of disobedience. (pg. 343)

13. How did Lena’s mother escape from the Crypts?

13a. Lena’s mother escapes from the Crypts by writing the word LOVE on the wall. On the lower half of the wall, she wrote it in enormous letters and kept on retracing the word until the letter ‘O’ made a tunnel. Lena’s mother escaped through that tunnel. (pg. 369)

14. Where does Lena tell Hana to leave the note for Alex?

14a. Lena told Hana to leave the note for Alex in the empty space in the Governor’s fist. The Governor is a statue in Monumentum Square. (pg. 417)

15. How does Lena escape into the Wilds?

15a. Lena escapes into the Wilds by jumping off the motorcycle and letting it crash into the electrified fence, shorting out the fence. Then, she climbs over the fence. After she climbs over the fence, she runs into the Wilds. (pg. 438-440)

dissipate (pg. 298)

surreptitiously (pg. 312)

jettison (pg. 345)

vestibule (pg. 355)

periphery (pg. 397)