Book Review: Delirium: 4.5 Stars

Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Page Count: 393
RRP: £7.99
Genre: Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Romance
Year of Publication: 2011
ISBN: 978-1444790955
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Delirium-Lauren-Oliver-ebook/dp/B004KZOXJA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398972254&sr=8-1&keywords=delirium

*All above information is based on the copy of the book that I own and have read.

Extended Rating:         87/100
    Continuity:                 8/10
    Creativity:                  9/10
    Originality:                9/10
    Expression:              10/10
    Captivation:             10/10
    Readability:               8/10
    Relatable:                  9/10   
    Twists and Turns:     8/10
    Imagery:                    8/10
    External:                   8/10
   

BLURB

They say that the cure for love will make me happy and safe forever. And I’ve always believed them.

Until Now.

Now everything has changed. Now, I’d rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years suffocated by a lie.

There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. They would tell lies for it. Even kill for it.

Then, at last, they found the cure.

REVIEW

    Welcome to a world where the greatest desire held within the hearts of our society has been flipped on its head and turned against us. Expression is quashed, and basic human emotion is considered the greatest weakness. Embracing your best friend is discouraged. Crying when you fall is frowned upon. Everything you are allowed to enjoy is chosen for you. Regulated. And worst of all, everyone is grateful for it. Well, almost everyone.

    Lauren Oliver landed my must-read list when I received a phone call every day for a fortnight while my mother read through the entire Delirium trilogy. She usually works leisurely through a new book, reading a chapter or so a day. Trashing through all three in two weeks blew her mind as well as mine. So onward I dove into dystopian Portland, within which Lena resides.

    The first aspect of this book that caught me was how interesting a situation the society finds itself. It’s not unusual for a protagonist to be the ‘odd-one-out’, the one who sees things differently to the world around her, and in this way, in this world, I related to Lena. Oliver has woven the concerns of today’s society, both legitimate and exaggerated, into a scenario so painfully potential that it would be difficult for any reader with a mind of their own not to understand where Lena comes from. As she struggles with her opinions and realisations of a world bound by rules which state that love is the deadliest of diseases.

    Thoughtful and beautifully descriptive, the narrative wraps you in its caress and carries you through Lena’s captivating journey blinkered. I lost sight of the world around me, my only goal to discover the next turn, and before I knew it, the explosive finale left me breathless. Lena’s musings over how to feel about the system that rules her days, and those of the people around her, are frighteningly transposable to us, and caused great mental unrest for me throughout the time surrounding my reading of this book. It made it so easy for me to question my world’s systems, rules regulations, and the fragility of our belief system in those who run our world for us. In this sense, this book struck like a brooding thunderstorm, rolling over me and sending me careening. What is more, we are presented with more detail over how everything is ordered and how the system stands as the story runs; not overloaded all at once in the first chapters.

    For the world of young adult literature, this book is perfect. The age and feelings of our main character highlight so many of the infectious insecurities of a young adult waiting for their place in the world to be bestowed upon them, only to be wracked with doubt and fear upon its presentation.

    Another fantastic book that had me pulling the sequel off the shelf as I hit the last chapter, desperate for the story not to end. Highly recommended for those who usually read outside of this genre also. An all round pleasure to read, this thought-provoking, relatable and expressive story is one to be enjoyed across the generations.

Book Review: Poison Study: 4.5 Stars

Title: Poison Study
Book 1 of The Chronicles of Ixia
Author: Maria V Snyder
Publisher: Mira
Page Count: 409
RRP: £6.99
Genre: Fantasy Sci-Fi
Year of Publication: 2007
ISBN: 978-0778301929
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poison-Study-Book-Trilogy-MIRA/dp/0778301923/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_img_in

*All above information is based on the copy of the book that I own and have read.

Extended Rating:         82/100
    Continuity:                 9/10
    Creativity:                  8/10
    Originality:                7/10
    Expression:                8/10
    Captivation:             10/10
    Readability:               8/10
    Relatable:                  8/10   
    Twists and Turns:      8/10
    Imagery:                    7/10
    External:                    9/10

BLURB

CHOOSE:

A QUICK DEATH

OR SLOW POISON…

Yelena has a choice - be executed for murder, or become food taster to the Commander of Ixia. She leaps at the chance for survival, but her relief may be short lived.

Life in the palace is full of hazards and secrets. Wily and smart, Yelena must learn to identify poisons before they kill her, recognise whom she can trust and how to spy on those she can’t. And who is the mysterious Southern sorceress who can reach into her head?

When Yelena realises she has extraordinary magical powers of her own, she faces a whole new problem, for using magic in Ixia is punishable by death…

REVIEW

    This one was a recommendation from my long standing friend. I grabbed this book off of the shelf, and read it in a day; I just couldn’t stop until I’d found out how Yelena was going to escape her myriad of predicaments.

    The character of Yelena Zaltana, a hardy and practical woman if not somewhat rash in her decisions and actions, has become one of my favourites ever from a book. Feisty and never satisfied to lay down and be walked all over, she fights her corner as best she knows how every time. And when she loses, she dedicates herself and learns to fight harder. The world she lives in proves to be an intricate and flawless blend of military discipline and erratic, uncontainable magic, woven into a tapestry that explores strategy and the force of an individual’s willpower deliciously.

    Clearly researched and intelligently underpinned, Poison Study leads us into catalogues of information that few of us were likely to know much of beforehand. Lists, flavours, and effects of poisons, tactics of weapon handling, covert detail of assassination and working underneath the radar; Snyder doesn’t fail to impress when embodying in the reader Yelena’s bewilderment at how little she actually knew of such things.

    A book that holds you in its caress and nurtures you through its story of ever changing direction, Poison Study is definitely worthwhile. It was over way before I was ready. For those faster readers, make sure to have the sequels Magic Study and Fire Study to hand, or you’ll be left cliffhanging by the end that hints at much more to come.