A future where love is a disease: This was the reason it took me a while to get into this book, despite Lauren Oliver's lovely writing. I just never got a good grasp of the world, and it doesn't help that the first two chapters are essentially infodumps. I never got that creep factor from the cured people like I got from the characters in The Giver and Fahrenheit 451, and it was hard to see how different they were supposed to act for a while (there is quite a bit of telling rather than showing in this book). I had a very hard time wrapping my head around how the United States in the future would close off its borders and outlaw love, rewrite the Bible, and somehow everyone believed that love really did kill you and was the root of all evil...I mean, I get the whole increasing divorce rate and alcoholism, but aren't those just as accurately results of a lack or love? And would the governing body and the majority of the country be willing to give up loving their spouses, children, parents, friends, interests, and whatever else? Eventually, there were enough hints about a conspiracy and a large amount of "sympathizers," but it would have been much better if this was set more than 60-some years after love had been outlawed (40-something after the cure was perfected). It does not allow much time for this brainwashing to set in if that's really the case, and if it's not, I still have no idea how we got here. (I know it's a trilogy, but it harmed my enjoyment of this novel because I couldn't get the premise in my head.)
There were some parts that I did like, though, such as oil being rationed and the "intranet," mostly just because of its renamed title, but still I was glad it finally answered what happened to the technology.
Overall I think this might have worked much better if it was not set so much in the real world: if it was an alternate universe or something else mysterious, I think I would have been able to have immersed myself in the story more. Plus there is the issue of uncured babies becoming attached to mothers who cannot love them back, which is a very real issue, but is never explored in the book (and Lena is one of the few who. Others have discussed that, though.
Lena falls in love: This is what Delirium is for the most part about, falling in love. But not necessarily falling in love with someone else. Allow me to explain.
Oliver does a great job of describing what it feels like to be in love: getting distracted, feeling beautiful, seeing the world in a whole new light, being paranoid that everyone will see it written across your forehead, etc. However, I never really felt that she was greatly improved by Alex specifically, and it didn't help that he was a very generic YA boyfriend: sweet, already in love with her, attractive in the thin and muscular sense, older, an outsider (though human)...he was nice and inoffensive enough (though at first he was a bit creepy, having remembered and seen her before), and I liked how it was played out, but I never really got a great grasp on him as a character who Lena fell in love with. But this book is mostly focused on the actual falling in love, not the relationship, so it gets a bit of a pass.
The frustrating part was that the story really could not have been any other way with Lena. Hana would be the one to rebel, choose to fall in love, and escape...but Lena's backstory won't allow that. As such she is kind of, forgive me, manipulated by Alex's character to get into the situation she needs to be for the story to take place, which accounts for him already loving her, kissing her first without even asking if it's okay...that sort of thing. It is only after all this that that Lena can break free and gain more agency. I still don't know how I feel about this. On one hand, it would have been a completely different story and character; on the other, it would avoid some cliches and uncomfortable moments
But hey, I did really enjoy Delirium once I got past the first half where everything was set up. I have been told that the rest of the series shouldn't be my top priority and frankly I'm not too interested--though Lauren Oliver shows no sides of slowing down writing and I'm sure I'll pick up another of her books sometime. Meanwhile, my next review looks to be a 3-in-1 affair.
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