Requiem (Delirium #3)
by Lauren Oliver
Summary: 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.
Genre: YA Dystopian
Release Date: March 5, 2013
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Where to Buy: Amazon . Barnes and Noble . EpicReads
Source: I purchased a hardcover.
Review:
I really love this trilogy.
I have seen so many people rate Requiem as just okay and I’ve even seen it described as disappointing, so I was really curious and cautious while reading it. Now that I’ve finished, I’m not sure I fully understand why others have been disappointed by it. I thought it was amazing and I loved the way it ended.
There are many elements of a dystopian novel that interest me and what I love about the Delirium trilogy is that it explores so many of them. Requiem was a little more realistic, depressing, harsh, and tough than the other two books, but I thought it was appropriately so. The conflict was everywhere and Lena really started to think about her choices and what she wanted out of life. I suppose the bleakness of Lena’s reality might have been unappealing to some readers, especially when compared to the hopeful Lena from the first book, but I love the way life shaped Lena into a completely different person. Every single character in the series grew and were shaped by the events in their lives and I love it when authors can make their characters evolve like that.
I liked the alternating viewpoints from Hana. Her story was relevant to Lena’s, if only to serve as a contrasting viewpoint from a cured person, though a lot more depth was present in her story because of her previous relationship with Lena. Also, her circumstances gave the me a lot more insight into the happenings and viewpoints in “Zombieland” while Lena’s circumstances gave me insight into the resistance. Hana’s conflict was heartbreaking and incredibly interesting.
I love Lauren Oliver’s writing style. I felt like Delirium was a bit more poetic than the other two books in the trilogy, but the changes in style were appropriate and coincided with changes in characters, events, and settings. Each book in the trilogy has a distinct structure that helps create the overall effect and I loved the way the viewpoints lined up in Requiem.
I really loved the ending. A lot. I’m seeing so many reviews that mention how disappointing and unfulfilling the ending is and I hope no one avoids the series because of the reviews. I thought the ending was perfect and full of so much hope. I will admit that I love a lot of endings that people hate, though, so I suppose people should use their own judgment. Pandemonium and Requiem were grittier than Delirium and took the story in a mature direction as the characters dealt with choice, consequences, and reality. While the naivety of the characters in Delirium was charming, I enjoyed the direction of the story and the way the choices of the characters were dealt with in the rest of the trilogy. And the ending was one that filled me full of so much emotion. A disappointing ending to me is one that falls flat, not one that makes me ache, hope, and love.
The Delirium trilogy was captivating and emotionally gripping. I cared about the characters so much. I highly recommend the series and it’s definitely a must read if you like YA dystopian novels.
