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 governments 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.
Oh my goodness.
No, seriously...you have no idea how good this book is. I'm not kidding.
Oliver has created a world that both intrigues and terrifies. A world without love. This is an incredible read, a dystopian following in the footsteps of The Giver. It's heartbreaking to see an entire world that has centered its very society around the notion that love is dangerous, and must be destroyed. The main character, Lena, believes this with all her might. Love stole her mother from her, and she won't let it drag her down too. The book is told over a course of just about three months, as Lena counts down the days until her surgery, until her "cure". It's the one thing she's looking forward to. Once she's cured, she'll be safe.
But then she meets Alex, and suddenly, a cure doesn't sound so good anymore.
I loved how gradual the relationship between Lena and Alex was. It had to be, to set the mood of the story. Lena has had barely any contact with uncured males during her entire life, so she's more than a little wary of Alex in the beginning. Unlike a lot of YA fiction out right now, this is not love at first sight, which I found wonderful. In fact, the word "love" was barely used in connection to Lena and Alex's relationship at all. Oliver presented a wonderful work of fiction in which the emotion is real. You can feel it as you read it, but it is barely spoken about.
As Lena and Alex's relationship develop, secrets begin coming to the surface, and threaten to destroy the very beliefs that Lena's entire life has been built around.
This was an amazing book. I was so sad when it was over, because now I have to wait for the second in the series.
Go buy this book. You won't regret it!
Happy Reading!
-geekgirl
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.
Oh my goodness.
No, seriously...you have no idea how good this book is. I'm not kidding.
Oliver has created a world that both intrigues and terrifies. A world without love. This is an incredible read, a dystopian following in the footsteps of The Giver. It's heartbreaking to see an entire world that has centered its very society around the notion that love is dangerous, and must be destroyed. The main character, Lena, believes this with all her might. Love stole her mother from her, and she won't let it drag her down too. The book is told over a course of just about three months, as Lena counts down the days until her surgery, until her "cure". It's the one thing she's looking forward to. Once she's cured, she'll be safe.
But then she meets Alex, and suddenly, a cure doesn't sound so good anymore.
I loved how gradual the relationship between Lena and Alex was. It had to be, to set the mood of the story. Lena has had barely any contact with uncured males during her entire life, so she's more than a little wary of Alex in the beginning. Unlike a lot of YA fiction out right now, this is not love at first sight, which I found wonderful. In fact, the word "love" was barely used in connection to Lena and Alex's relationship at all. Oliver presented a wonderful work of fiction in which the emotion is real. You can feel it as you read it, but it is barely spoken about.
As Lena and Alex's relationship develop, secrets begin coming to the surface, and threaten to destroy the very beliefs that Lena's entire life has been built around.
This was an amazing book. I was so sad when it was over, because now I have to wait for the second in the series.
Go buy this book. You won't regret it!
Happy Reading!
-geekgirl
That's an awesome review! I am so in love with this novel, it's one of my all time favourites!I really like that the relationship between Alex and Lena develops gradually, builds up a lot more anticipation:) And I cried my eyes out in the end, soooo beautiful!
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