Review: Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver

Posted April 2, 2013 by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction in Reviews / 2 Comments

Title: Requiem (Delirium #3)

Author: Lauren Oliver

Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books

Release Date: March 5, 2013
Pages: 391, Hardcover
Goodreads Rating: 3.87 stars
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: 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.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

MY TAKE

Requiem was a fitting end to the Delirium series. This book finds Lena and her group of friends struggling to find their place in the world. The Wilds are no longer safe, and the group is divided on whether they should try to find a peaceful place to hide or join the revolution in full force.

Part of the story is told from Hana’s perspective and we get a first-hand look at what a post-procedure life looks like. Except that Hana secretly fears that her procedure hasn’t been completely successful and that she may yet fall prey to emotions that are beyond her control. She also begins to see that her cured life may not be as safe and predictable as she was led to believe.

Meanwhile, Lena desperately wants to rebuild a relationship with Alex, but he has come back from the Crypts changed, unable to let go of the pain of his imprisonment and Lena’s betrayal. Lena follows Raven’s advice and tries to let go of the past and focus on the present with Julian. Still, Lena cannot escape the pain of the choices she has made.

Is love a disease? In the end, Requiem is a powerful story of freedom – the freedom to choose our own path in the world. And to live with the consequences.

I will say that some people probably won’t like how the book ends. Oliver doesn’t give us a tidy ending to every subplot (I won’t spoil which are tied up and which are not), but leaves us with the idea that life is uncertain and that the best we can do is make our choices and live them out to the fullest. Personally, I don’t know how she could have ended on a better note. 4/5 Stars