Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

 "There is no before. There is only now, and what comes next."

After falling in love, Lena and Alex flee their oppressive society where love is outlawed and everyone must receive the "cure" - an operation that makes them immune to the delirium of love - but Lena alone manages to find her way to a community of resistance fighters. Although she is bereft without the boy she loves, her struggles seem to be leading her toward a new love. (summary by Goodreads)

I love this book almost as much as Delirium. CHARACTERS: Lena really evolves in this book. At the end of Delirium, she is heartbroken and near death. In this book, she becomes much stronger and truly forms her own opinion of society. She learns what it is like to teach someone about the disease she was taught to fear her entire life. Lena is definitely one of my favorite female protagonists. I didn't like Julian that much, although he was an interesting character that added to the story. I thought he was kind of weird and not nearly as amazing as Alex.  Raven was another one of my favorite characters. She is so bad-ass and keeps everyone going when they are about to die. Hopefully, we get get to see more of her in Requiem. PLOT: This story was totally different from Delirium. While Delirium was a flowery love story, this was a heart-pounding story of resistance. It focuses more on the Wilds and the people that are resistant to the disease. POINT OF VIEW: One of the most interesting parts of the book were the alternating chapters. They alternate between the past and the present. Many people do not like this format, and I have to admit that I had a hard time with it when I first read it. Now I love it. We really get to see Lena grow as a character in two different time periods. This way of telling a story is unlike anything I've read before. WRITING: As always, Lauren Oliver uses beautiful writing to captivate her readers. Some of my favorite quotes include "The flip side of freedom is this: When you're completely free, you're also completely on your own.” and “I wonder if this is how people always get close: They heal each other's wounds; they repair the broken skin.” RATING: 5 out of 5 stars Overall, this was an amazing book and a great sequel to Delirium. I am sorry that the series is ending, but I'm ecstatic to read Requiem!(