Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
Series: Delirium #2
Published by Harper Teen on February 28, 2012
Genres: Dystopian
Pages: 329
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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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.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

Really?  That is the end?  Why must you continue to do this to me, Lauren Oliver?  Oh the wait is going to kill me!

Okay now for my review!

Pandemonium is an amazing follow-up to Delirium but I expected no less from Lauren Oliver.  Pandemonium was a lot darker than Delirium and that I did not expect.  It was still greatly enjoyable but be warned: there are not many happy moments in this book.  Still, in my opinion, it was better than Delirium.

Lena’s life changed completely when she lost Alex and had to go into the Wilds alone.  She became a much harder person, more likely to hate than love.  Of course she wasn’t alone in the Wilds for long.  She was found by Raven and welcomed into her homestead.  There she met Tack, Blue, Hunter, Squirrel, Grandma, Grandpa, Lo, Sarah, and Miyako.  They made her part of their family and Lena started to move on with her life.  Things changed though.  The resistance became more forceful and the Wilds were no longer safe.  Lena had a choice: to stay in the Wilds until death finally caught up with her or to go back to the cities and stand up with the resistance.  Of course she chose the resistance but she never expected to fall in love with the enemy.

There was a lot of death in Pandemonium and I definitely teared up at each and every loss.  It seemed like every time things would look up for Lena something bad would happen again.  I loved how strong she was but I loved even more to see her breakdown.  She is such a human character and that is what makes her awesome.

The plot in this one was very different from Delirium.  Right from the start you are hooked because there is so much going on.  Also, each chapter is either Now or Then, Then being right after Lena made it into the Wilds.  It made for a very interesting story and I liked the way it was told.  It wasn’t confusing at all which I was originally worried about.

Overall, Pandemonium is a must-read if you liked Delirium.  It is action-packed, brutally real, and at times, super sweet.  And that ending!  The wait for Requiem really might kill me.  =)

Looking for more reviews of Pandemonium?

Pen To Paper’s Review
I Eat Words’ Review