Mini-Reviews: Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel & Raven by Lauren Oliver

ISBN: 9780062267788
Publisher: HarperCollins
Released: March 2013
Series: Delirium Trilogy (#0.5, #1.5, #2.5)

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

Hana is told through the perspective of Lena's best friend, Hana Tate. Set during the tumultuous summer before Lena and Hana are supposed to be cured, this story is a poignant and revealing look at a moment when the girls' paths diverge and their futures are altered forever.

Lena's mother, Annabel, has always been a mystery--a ghost from Lena's past--until now. Her journey from teenage runaway to prisoner of the state is a taut, gripping narrative that expands the Delirium world and illuminates events--and Lena--through a new point of view.

And as the passionate, fierce leader of a rebel group in the Wilds, Raven plays an integral role in the resistance effort and comes into Lena's life at a crucial time. Crackling with intensity, Raven is a brilliant story told in the voice of one of the strongest and most tenacious characters in the Delirium world.

MINI-REVIEWS:

     HANA (#0.5): ★★★★
     I felt very comfortable reading Hana, since Requiem was half-told in her POV. I'm glad I read this (and all of them) short story after reading the trilogy instead of before them or in between each one. Its interesting to look back, knowing what you know, you can see all of the little secrets and surprises Oliver gave us, such as the fate of several background characters in Delirium. One thing that I keep thinking is that I never felt any connection with Hana in Delirium. She was totally flat - but so were all of the characters in my opinion in the first book. But in Requiem and Hana, even though she was not a GOOD person, she finally did something and meant something, and I think it was good that she had her own story and a chance for us to know what was going on on the other side. The end of her story is especially powerful, where you can feel the ugly feelings Hana feels pulsing through the pages. Though the story was just a way for readers to hold on a little longer, I still loved it. Great job, Lauren, and thanks for the wonderful story!

     ANNABEL (#1.5): ★★★★
     From the very first page of this story, it was exactly what I was hoping for. An insight into Annabel's life before Lena. Not because I particularly cared but because it also gave an insight into what the world was like when the cure came about, which I find very interesting. I also like how Oliver used the "then" and "now" chapters like she did in Pandemonium. This is also a short story that doesn't move the trilogy forward in any way, but it gives insight to the mystery woman missing from Lena's life for so long. This story mostly served to make me sad, and feel pity and heartache for Annabel, a woman who loved deeply and couldn't be loved back, not the way she deserved. Annabel also made me wonder: Oliver talks about how the cure wasn't mandatory in the earlier days and and people "flocked to it." You tend to wonder if that would happen in real life. If they all of a sudden offered us a way out of the pain, the hurt, the feeling, would people do it?. I think people would do it. I honestly do. Hell, I might even think about it if something like that were to ever happen. But I guess you don't know what you have until it is gone, including the freedom to love. Again, though this one didn't do anything for the story itself, it was a great addition and added some depth to an otherwise static character.

     RAVEN (#2.5): ★★★★★
     Raven was just what I expected - sassy and sarcastic right from the beginning. Straightforward and to the point, just like the star of this short story. One thing I have to say after reading this short story is that Oliver is an amazing writer. I mean, I knew this, but this just cements it. Many times, an author has one voice and tells different stories from different POVs with the same voice. This is not the case with Lauren Oliver. You can always tell the difference between who is speaking at any given time, especially with Raven because she is such a strong character. I was engrossed in this story, having just read the final installment in the trilogy. The way Oliver ties everything together with this last short story.... I cant even explain to you the emotions going through me while reading this last story. I wanted to laugh, cry, hit something, hug someone. All of it.
I remember reading a few reviews about the ending of Requiem and how Oliver left some readers feeling bereft, empty. I beg to differ. I read Requiem and I was not thrilled with the ending, but I got through it okay. After reading Raven, I'm done. Emotionally DONE. I now feel EMPTY. I literally just want to lay down and cry. I wish I could go into more detail because there is so much more I want to say. Even thinking about it right now makes my heart literally ache in my chest, and I almost cant take it. This short story was slightly more beneficial to the trilogy and helped with learning about where Raven came from, why she was the way she was, and learning about the beautiful love she shared with Tack that we don't learn too much about in the main books.

Thank you Lauren Oliver for a few GREAT ADDITIONS to a fantastic trilogy.

Oh, but there is a bonus:

     ALEX:
     We wont rate this story on a star system because it was an addition to Requiem only in the first printings and it was 10-15 pages long at best (I don't know exactly). All I can say is that this little addition shows why Alex was acting that way when he returned in Requiem. Also, I think this story helped me understand Delirium a little better. I never felt a connection with Lena and Alex in Delirium and I think its because Delirium didn't give me enough to go on. I felt like I never got a chance to see WHY Lena loved Alex so much. This story showed me their relationship in a new way that I can appreciate and maybe I can see why some people are on Team Alex and not on Team Julian. I'm not changing my mind though. But....maybe Alex isnt all bad.

OVERALL RATING: ★★★★ 1/2
Thank you Lauren Oliver for an amazing ride!! I might not have loved Delirium that much but after reading the rest of the trilogy and these wonderful add-ons, I am sad to say goodbye. Though I felt the first two stories didn't serve much purpose, they were still a great way to add some depth to the characters that held some mysteries.

Have any of you read these? What did you think?

A.

Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

ISBN: 9780062014535
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: March 2013
Series: Delirium Trilogy #3
Page Count: 391


GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

IN-DEPTH REVIEW:
**NO SPOILERS, but if you havent read Pandemonium, I wouldn't suggest reading this. You may want to read my review of Pandemonium, though it does contain some small spoilers**
Ever since I finished Pandemonium, I've been dying to read this book as I'm sure many of you have been or were, and we all obviously know why. The return of ALEX **gasp**

I'm not going to lie, at the end of Pandemonium, I was very anxious to see what would happen with Alex, but ever since Julian entered the picture, I was 100% team Julian. I think I mentioned in my review of Pandemonium that I never felt any connection with Lena and Alex. No emotion when he "died" or anything like that. I just had no interest. I instantly connected with the Julian-Lena love story and I think its important for me to add that after reading Requiem where we have both Julian and Alex, I am still team Julian, though only about 90% now, maybe not 100%.

I was 15 pages into this book and I was already pissed off with Lena and the attitude she had taken on once Alex has shown up again. I was quickly understanding why many people didnt like this book. Lena was back to being boring Lena. But then all of a sudden, a few pages later, it all happened for me. I was hooked. I was literally crying at this point because of the emotions Lena was experiencing, and Oliver's writing is just so amazing that, at times, I felt those emotions myself. Those really are the best kinds of books, arent they? The ones that make you feel what the characters feel.

Another reason I felt like I connected with this book was because of the emotions Lena was feeling in her love life. Let us all be honest here, most of us have experienced some sort of romantic heartache, be it a break up in the 8th grade or in your adult life. Either way, you remember being crushed, right? Well I was a particularly dramatic teenager, and havent had the best of luck as of late, so I know what its like, and I think the second best kinds of books are the ones you can relate to. I related to Lena, I felt her pain because of the writing and because of my own memories.
Anyhow... moving on.

Julian grew so much in this final installment of the trilogy. Though I liked him in Pandemonium, he came off as weak to me, and Requiem comes around and no, he isn't all of a sudden tough and strong just because he's left Zombieland to live in the Wilds, like many authors would have made him. He grew. He was still afraid of the changes, of the difference in the quality of life, and of loving or showing affection, but he wanted to try and learn and be strong and be an asset to the resistance to fight for what he believed in and he did all of those things. I just loved Julian in Requiem which made Alex's return that much harder for me to accept. Ugh, imagine how hard it was for Lena!

Now, see - usually, when a dystopian novel like this begins to focus too much on love and romance when the fate of life itself is at stake, I tend to get annoyed by petty teenager things being important when there are obviously more important things to worry about. However, this novel is different in an interesting way. As we all know, this trilogy is about a society that deems love a disease, amor deliria nervosa, that it is the cause of all the world's problems. These books are about fighting for love. I expected to be annoyed by the focus on relationships but I wasnt and I was pleasantly surprised by how invested I was in the relationships in this trilogy.

One thing I do have to say that I also found interesting was that in Pandemonium and Requiem, the characters many times had the same thoughts I did. Are the "cureds" right? Is it really a disease? You find yourself so consumed, not thinking clearly, doing irrational things, etc. Arent they right in some way? It was just clever how Oliver presented this, giving up the ability to see both perspectives, how maybe the "cureds" werent totally wrong with the whole premise of the cure.

Now let's talk about Hana. Many of you should know that this book is told from Lena's view in the Wilds and Hana's view in Portland after her cure. I was so engrossed in Hana's story, as much as I was in Lena's. Even at the times I found myself hating her, I found myself cheering her on and feeling for her too.

I was totally engrossed in this book in its entirety and kind of wonder what some of the reviewers were talking about when they said they didnt even like it. I really cant think of much I didnt like except - oh! The ENDING!! I think many are in an uproar over the way this story ended, and while I am not happy with it, I like that it gives me room to decide how it ends myself. I have some ideas where Oliver wanted it to go with some things, but others, I guess it is kind of left up to the reader, and one day, I suppose I'll say where this one went in my head, but I dont want to give anything away. For now, I'll just replay it in my head whenever I get sad that this trilogy is over.

SUMMARY OF MY THOUGHTS:

I loved this book, and was very happy with the growth of the characters and their depth. I enjoyed all aspects, including the progression of relationships and the progression of the resistance. I am ONE HUNDRED PERCENT TEAM JULIAN and I always will be. As always, the writing is terrific, and frankly this was my favorite in the series. I didnt like Delirium to begin with but continued because I dont like to leave things unfinished, ended up loving Pandemonium, and adored Requiem. I felt every emotion portrayed in this book with fierce intensity which brought me even farther into the world of Delirium.


RATING: ★★★★ 1/2

Four and a half stars for this one. The ONLY thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars one is the ending. I just wasnt happy with it, and though I am trying to look at it in a positive light, I cant help but remember thinking - THIS IS IT? THIS IS HOW IT ENDS!?

Now I'm going to read the three short stories that are a part of Delirium Stories and I will be posting a review on that some time this week, in addition the short story about Alex released in the first printing of Requiem.

So, have you read this one yet? If so, what did you think? If not, do you plan on reading it? Can't wait to hear what you thought of this one.

A.