Book Talk: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

*This post contains spoilers. If you intend on reading either Delirium or Pandemonium, please quit reading now* 

Delirium by Lauren Oliver was the first book I read in 2011 (I think) and was also the first book that I ever read that was set in Dystopian setting. And needless to say, I loved it. Delirium pulled me up and down and screwed with my heart in a wonderful way that made me both happy and sad even when I finished the book. Like, I am not kidding. I bawled for a week over what happened at the end of Delirium, and I bitched about it for the year that followed. It was kind of pathetic, really. 

So, yesterday the day comes that the second book in this wonderful trilogy comes out. And so I rushed to Barnes & Noble to secure my copy. Only to find that Barnes & Noble didn't have any copies. Nor did Target or Walmart or the Mizzou Bookstore. Go figure. Despite upgrading to a town that actually has a bookstore, I still find myself in the same place as I did when I lived in Hannibal. Anyway. This book is called Pandemonium and it's by Lauren Oliver.

Pande-break-my-heart more like. Fuck.

I waited for a year for this book to come out. I read Delirium mid-February last year, and every day since then I've been ecstatic about this book coming out. Except for yesterday. When I finally got my hands on it (a free copy from a file sharing website, but I'll be sure to pay for the book whenever Barnes & Noble decides to GET THEIR SHIT TOGETHER), I was terrified. What if the things that I've been hoping for with this book turn out to not be true? What if - the worst possible thing - Alex is REALLY, REALLY dead?

But regardless, I devoured this book in a little over four hours. The book is darker than Delirium, and lacks the hopeful, light feel of it. Pandemonium is set in two time periods, with alternating chapters saying "then" and "now". And as much as I loved feeling like I was reading two books at once, it made the book utterly impossible to put down since almost every chapter ended on a cliff-hanger.

In the "then" chapters, we pick up shortly after we left off in Delirium with Lena grieving over the death of Alex and being "reborn" into the Wilds. She's quickly found by a group of Invalids - Raven, Hunter, Tack, Sarah, Blue, Lu, etc. - who bring her into the family and after awhile, force her into living again. The main action of the "then" section doesn't happen until it's nearly winter and they're packing up to leave their homestead. The homestead is bombed and they're forced to leave without being entirely prepared - thus losing Blue and Miyako in the process of moving to their new home. I enjoyed this section of the book, but my real love of the book comes from the "now" chapters, which are much more exciting.

It's not clear how long has passed between the "then" and "now" chapters. I'm thinking only a matter of months, but it's not clear either way. But Lena is now living as a "cured" in New York City and is a spy for the revolution. She attends meetings of the DFA - Deliria-Free America - and attends a rally with Raven and Tack. She's given instructions to follow Julian Foreman - the president of DFA's son - at all costs. So when the Scavengers - Invalids who don't stand for love - attack and Julian is taken, she's taken as well and locked in an underground cell with Julian.

She spends awhile (a couple days? hours? it wasn't clear) in the cell with Julian getting to know him/ falling in love with him/ hating him until the Scavengers end up taking Julian and beating him in an attempt to get him to talk. Lena comes up with a plan to escape and they act on it, eventually leading them through the tunnels and to a homestead with Julian, where they are eventually caught. Julian is taken into custody by the real police, while Lena is taken by the freedom fighters and she learns that the whole thing was a set-up. Oh, and that the "police officer" that she was captured by is her mother - except she doesn't learn that until after she's gone, of course.

So Lena leaves the rebels and goes back into the city in an attempt to save Julian from his execution. Which includes her breaking into Thomas Foreman's house and discovering his secret library - which gives her the book that lets her know about her mother - and breaking into the lab where Julian is scheduled to die. At the last moment, Raven and the other rebels break in as well and kill Thomas Foreman and the regulators, thus saving Julian's life. Raven, Tack, Lena, and Julian are taken back to the homestead, where Lena admits to Julian that she loves him and promises to be with him forever.

The book ends on a cliffhanger (!!!!) as a boy who has just escaped from the Portland prison comes into the room, and turns out to be (of course) Alex (!!!! ALEX!!! YOU'RE ALIVE!!!) who Lena describes as appearing "hardened". His tone while he says "Don't believe her" is confusing. I wasn't sure if he was 1. angry at Lena for leaving him or 2. angry/jealous of Lena and Julian. Either way. I was thrilled. Because ALEX. Alex is my #1 book crush.

So overall, I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. And I can't wait until Requiem, which comes out in February 2013 (WHY? WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?) to find out what happens to Lena, Julian, and Alex in our typical young-adult love triangle relationship.

And in case it isn't totally obvious, I'm Team Alex.