Thumbs up for Delirium by Lauren Oliver. Young adult science fiction.
This kept popping up on lists of “What to read in YA sci-fi/fantasy” so I read the first couple of chapters at Barnes & Noble. Then, of course, I was hooked. The plot is identical to about a hundred others (girl in repressive utopian society falls in love, decides to fight back) but Lauren Oliver is far and away the best prose stylist in the genre that I’ve read so far. I will confess that I preferred the first part of the book, before Lena gets involved with Alex, not because I didn’t like him but because I didn’t find their burgeoning relationship to be particularly well-drawn. He seems more of a necessary plot point (Insert Love Interest Here) rather than a full character. But I love the poetry of Oliver’s writing, and if you’re not sick of the genre already, you should add this one to your reading list.
The smell of oranges has always reminded me of funerals. On the morning of my evaluation it is the smell that wakes me up. I look at the clock on the bedside table. It’s six o’clock.
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