Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
Reviewed by Grace Soledad
Pandemonium is the sequel to Delirium, and picks up where the first book left off. This series takes place in a dystopian world where love is a disease. Lena and Alex defied the society when they fell in love, and promised each other to escape to the Wilds where they could be free to love each other. Lena made it; Alex didn’t.
Lena wakes up to a girl tending to her, who tells her about the ragtag family of runaways she has found herself in and their system for surviving. They never want to go back to a place where they can’t love each other but it takes strength to survive in the Wild. Lena finds herself working harder than she has ever had to in order to bring down the society. Pandemonium is told in two time periods – one in the present, where Lena is inside the society working to bring them down, and another as flashbacks where she is reflecting upon her time in the Wild. When Lena falls in love with Julian, the son of an organization that is anti-love, she doesn’t know whether or not she can truly trust him.
Lena’s time in the Wild is filled with terror and she struggles to survive. She needs to rely on inner strength more than ever and she develops as a memorable character. She struggles with her love for Alex, what she left behind, and what she’ll be facing in the future. Lena’s character was so wonderful in this book that she was definitely a highlight.
Delirium was just okay for me. When I picked up Pandemonium, I was expecting a pretty good read. Instead, it blew me away. Lauren Oliver truly hit her stride in Pandemonium and I couldn’t read fast enough. The book was captivating, and did not suffer from the middle book/filler syndrome. It had its own plot while still setting up for the third book. The cliffhanger at the end made me want to throw the book across the room because I want the next book NOW.
Pandemonium is full of hope and despair and made me think about everything that is good and bad about love. Oliver’s creativity and stunning prose shines in this sequel. Dangerous, addictive, and gorgeous, you won’t be able to put Pandemonium down.
Rating: 
Also by Lauren Oliver: Liesl & Po
Grace Soledad is a teenage bibliophile who runs the blog Words Like Silver. She is described as “antisocial” because she constantly has her nose buried in a book or a notebook. When not reading, she can be found dancing, writing, or at the beach.
Review copy was provided free of any obligation by HarperCollins. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.
Category: Children's Books, Love & Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Series, Young Adult
I think I’ve said before that I’m a pretty big fan of dystopian novels, and YA Sci/Fi seems to be the place to get that these days. Nothing will ever be quite as good as Ender’s Game, or The Earthsea Cycle but I’m personally glad to see stuff like this written.
I care for dystopian literature very often, so I would be reading this one. I think that the cover is very lovely though. Will recommend this one if I ever see or talk to my niece.
Carol Wong
I am not a big fan of dystopian novels so I don’t think this series is for me, but I can definitely see the appeal for those who do devour the genre. There are just so many books like this out there, I often wonder how people pick which ones to read and which to not bother with? Thank you for the review, I will keep this in mind as a recommendation for someone who likes this genre.
Ah, another dystopian novel. In the last 3 or so years I’ve read a few, and I’ve found that I hate dystopian novels.
As for this author, I’ve been seeing her around a lot in the last 2 or 3 years but have not bothered with her because, from the sound of the reviews of her books, I felt that these were not my taste as an adult.
This review almost had me convinced to try her, though. She should pay you.