Delirium by Lauren Oliver, author of the successful Before I Fall, was such a pleasure to read. Like Before I Fall, it had the same lyrical prose something that sparks my adoration for Lauren's writing. Although at times, the story does drag because of it. Nevertheless it's the one drag I truly like. The first few pages are outstanding, setting the tone of the book. And with that alone, it is one reason why you should go out a purchase Delirium. It will grab you from the first page. 
 In Delirium, Amor Deliria Nervosa is feared by every man, woman, and child, of the consequences they might have to endure if they capture this deadly disease. And in more fear is the Government, believing that it could overrun them. Every part of this society has been restructured around this idea of love being a disease, impacting the authority and control the Government has over the people within the society. This involves gender segregation, media censorship and indoctrination. 
 We see the world in Delirium through the eyes of Lena. She has this fear, or anxiety, or nervousness about the Procedure but those feelings are suppressed by her eagerness to be cured of the disease, before it spreads and infects her just the way it did her mother. One of my favourite aspects about this novel is the backstory of Lena's mother that we learn about. It puts forth a feeling of hope that one can survive and actually fight against something that you believe in. Within the first chapter, or at least the first couple of pages, you immediately are drawn into the emotions and feelings writhing through Lena's mind about the Procedure, and what might happen if she doesn't get cured. What if it fails? 
 At the start of each chapter there are excerpts of the Government Approved Literature and the Shhh that Lena and her best friend Hannah have known and learned all their lives. E.g. for first chapter the excerpt is: The most dangerous sicknesses are those that make us believe that we are well. As a reader you can't help feeling sympathetic for Lena and Hannah. The level of propaganda within this literature that the Government approves (and only approves), is all they really know and have been brought up to believe is true. It is this society's Bible. 
 However as all epic dystopians go, the real horror unfolds when we learn what happens to those that fall in love and are caught. There is one particular scene which had me in shock and tears, as you worry that something like that could happen in our world. And it may already be present. This scene is inhumane. These kids just want to enjoy their lives and because of that desire, their lives are therefore taken. 
 Out of the characters that we are introduced to in the book, I enjoyed how it wasn't Lena who first had this notion of rebelling or thought that there was something eerily wrong about the way the society is. It was actually Hannah, Lena's best friend, who initially instilled these thoughts about particular things into Lena, finally sinking in when she herself discovers the truths of this and that, and when she meets Alex (whom Lena falls in love with). Now I know I admit I'm a boy who doesn't have a strong liking for romance-driven novels (go figure!), but Delirium eliminates any biased I had towards them. The way Lauren Oliver has executed and used this concept of love being a disease was breathtaking in the way that it had an opposite effect to me when it came to the lovey-dovey portions of this story. The intimacy between Lena and Alex was really natural, gentle and sweet. Nothing felt particularly forced. 
 Delirium was slow in the beginning, however by the end of it all I could coherently speak was one word: Wow! The ending literally blew my pants off and it is with that that I gave Delirium by Lauren Oliver 5 bright and shining stars. I was not ready for what was going to occur and that is why I must have my hands on Pandemonium. Delirium leaves you with a sleepless night full of tears and tantrums, suspense and hope. And most of all, an appreciation for love.