“Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love — the deliria — blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.”

I read “Delirium” by Lauren Oliver a couple of years ago and it’s safe to say I am still in love with it. I was hooked on this book before I even read it. There are many dystopia novels out there that are blowing up because of the “Hunger Games” trilogy, but this one sticks out in my mind and is one of my favorite books for several reasons.

Reason 1:

The writing in this book is phenomenal. In many books — especially series — the author thinks it’s okay to repeat phrases over and over again. “Twilight” with the “he dazzles me” and “Fifty Shades of Grey” with the whole “my inner goddess” crap got really old after a while. Many books that focus on love are so cheesy with lines and descriptions about being in love, but Oliver steps up and takes her novel to a whole other level.

“Love: a single word, a wispy thing, a word no bigger or longer than an edge. That’s what it is: an edge; a razor. It draws up through the center of your life, cutting everything in two. Before and after. The rest of the world falls away on either side.”

Oliver also doesn’t just focus on the romantic relationship with love. Lena’s relationship with her friends, family, Alex, her love interest, and herself are all important throughout the story, not just her relationship with Alex.

Reason 2:

The characters were unforgettable. Since Oliver writes like a boss, she creates these characters who have strong voices and they leave an impact. Lena is an extraordinary main female character because she’s strong.

“I run for I don’t know how long. Hours, maybe, or days. Alex told me to run. So I run. You have to understand. I am no one special. I am just a single girl. I am five feet two inches tall and I am in-between in every way. But I have a secret. You can build walls all the way to the sky and I will find a way to fly above them. You can try to pin me down with a hundred thousand arms, but I will find a way to resist. And there are many of us out there, more than you think. People who refuse to stop believing. People who refuse to come to earth. People who love in a world without walls, people who love into hate, into refusal, against hope,and without fear. I love you. Remember. They cannot take it.”

She describes the characters so well, so the reader can see Lena’s relationships on different levels.

Reason 3:

The world this novel is set in is realistic. Most dystopian novels are based in a post-apocalyptic world where everything is destroyed or there are cities but they’re closed off to everyone. “Delirium” could have been set in my neighborhood. I really liked the fact that the story and world are realistic.

“One of the strangest things about life is that it will chug on, blind and oblivious, even as your private world – your little carved-out sphere – is twisting and morphing, even breaking apart. One day you have parents; the next day you’re an orphan. One day you have a place and a path. The next day you’re lost in the wilderness.

And still the sun rises and clouds mass and drift and people shop for groceries and toilets flush and blinds go up and down. That’s when you realize that most of it – life, the relentless mechanism of existing – isn’t about you. It doesn’t include you at all. It will thrust onward even after you’ve jumped the edge. Even after you’re dead.”

The drama in the book was not something I couldn’t see happening for this world. Every bad thing that happened, I’m glad happened because I hate when authors make things too easy or too hard for their characters. The plot in general is genius.

I was on Tumblr one day and I found out that “Delirium” is going to become a movie! I’m more excited about this book becoming a movie than I was for “The Hunger Games.” There’s not much to the production yet except that Oliver is going to be involved with the script. My dream cast would be:

-Lena Hathoway: Kaya Escoledario

-Alex Sheates: Asher Book

-Hana Tate: Ashley Benson

-Rachel : Mila Kunis