"Waiting on" Wednesday: Requiem

 

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

  

Requiem (Delirium, #3)

by Lauren Oliver

Release Date: March 5th, 2023

Publisher: HarperTeen

From Goodreads;

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. Of Pandemonium, ALA Booklist noted that “like all successful second volumes, this expands the world and ups the stakes, setting us up for the big finale.”

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. 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.

Comments;

The first two books in this series, Delirium and Pandemonium, were absolutely amazing. So, needless to say, I'm really looking forward to this last book in the series. Not only do I have so many burning questions that need to be answered, but the description sounds really good! I'm dying to know whats going to happen to Lena's love life and if Hana's procedure really worked. Cover wise, I'm not in love with it, but it's not bad.

Any thoughts?

Review: Delirium

 

Title: Delirium (Delirium #1)

Author: Lauren Oliver

Publisher: Harper Collins

Release Date: February 1st, 2011

Format: Paperback (Bought) 

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 smothered by a lie.

Lauren Oliver is an amazingly poignant writer and I absolutely love her stories. Delirium is definitely not an exception of her her talent. So far, this book has been my favourite of hers.

Now that being said, here's a look at the book and what I liked. Delirium revolves around the life of Lena Haloway (Tiddle). The period is a dystopian type future, set in America. In this future, love (amor deliria nervosa) is a disease and America has found a cure. Every person 18 and older gets this cure and goes on a to live a happy, care-free life because they no longer can love anything. But because love is considered dangerous and horrible, this cure is great thing to the people.

Basically, they're lobotomized. Cool? Not so much. I'd much rather be sick with the disease, thank you very much.

However, Lena can't wait to be cured so she can prove everyone that she won't wend up like her dead mother...until she falls in love. I was hoping that this falling in love stuff wouldn't be cheesy, and it turns out that it wasn't. The whole thing was very tasteful and actually beautiful. The underlying plot to this story (actually, the trilogy) is also super interesting. I can't say what that is without spoiling it, but lets just say that love always wins. Winkwink.

Alex, the one who contaminated her with amor deliria nervosa? Totally awesome character. He felt like a real guy, not a fantasized one. Lena was also a great character. Though I didn't sympathize all that much, I agreed with her feelings and her actions for the most part. (Not so much the whole, 'All praise the cure!' thing.) She was also an enjoyable protagonist. I wasn't annoyed by her mistakes or angry for things she did do (go out on a raid night) or didn't do (not leave Portland earlier, or not burn down Aunt Carol's house).

The ending is a killer. My heart was pounding through out the whole thing. I refuse, absolutely refuse, to believe that what Lena thinks what happened to Alex actually happened. She never says for sure! There /could/ be a chance! I highly doubt it...but there could! My heart will break if its true...but I again, I can't give away what happens. You'll just have to read the book.

As a whole, the book was great! There's meat to the story and the characters, and it's all super interesting. I can't wait to get my hands on the next books!

I gave it FIVE out of FIVE sporks!

Review: The Maze Runner

 

Title:The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner Series, #1)

Author: James Dashner

Publisher:Delacorte

Type: Hardcover (Library copy)

Imagine waking up one day in total darkness, unsure of where you are and unable to remember anything about yourself except your first name. You're in a bizarre place devoid of adults called the Glade. The Glade is an enclosed structure with a jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters, and gardens. And no way out. Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids -- the Runners -- venture into the labyrinth, trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit from this hellish place. So far, no one has figured it out. And not all of the Runners return from their daily exertions, victims of the maniacal Grievers, part animal, part mechanical killing machines.

Thomas is the newest arrival to the Glade in this Truman-meets-Lord of the Flies tale. A motley crew of half a dozen kids is all he has to guide him in this strange world. As soon as he arrives, unusual things begin to happen, and the others grow suspicious of him. Though the Maze seems somehow familiar to Thomas, he's unable to make sense of the place, despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. What is this place, and does Thomas hold the key to finding a way out?

I checked this book out at the library because every corner I turned around a book store, The Maze Runner was there. The description sounded interesting, and similar to a book I had just read (Incarceron by Catherine Fisher). So, I checked it out with high hopes since I loved Incarceron.

I didn't love it nearly as much as I thought I would. It was similar to Incarceron in the idea of a teenage boy losing his memory and being trapped in another world similar to a prison. The world he ends up in is full of other teenage boys and it's known as the Glade. Every month, a boy is sent to the Glade in an elevator known as the Box. Each time, the boy only remembers his name.

The Glade is the size of a small town and is surrounded by skyscraper high walls with exits on the North, South, East and West sides. Every night, the walls close and every morning, they open up. Outside of the Glade is The Maze. The Maze is a tangle of stone walls that move every night. Every boy that lives in the Glade, lives to find the escape from their world. They all know they had lives before but they don't know what.

Everything runs fine until the main character comes along (which is the start of the book). His name is Thomas and with him, comes drastic changes the boys of the Glade have ever seen. A week after his arrival, a girl comes, and announces that this is the End. So, it becomes apparent that they must find an escape or die trying.

Sounds interesting, right? Even more so when it's sprinkled with high-technology and creepy monsters that all sum up to a dystopian, futuristic setting. I loved that bit of the story.

The downside to this book? It's shallow. The writing is plain and verges on boring. I felt the whole time that I was just skimming the surface of what could have been a fantastic book.
The other thing that bothered me is that they didn't cast nearly as much focus on the girl that I would have expected.

Overall, it was just okay. Worth the three stars, but not anything more. Perhaps I shall pick up it's sequel though.

I gave it three sporks