Like many others, I loved Before I Fall, and I went in to Delirium with the same eagerness for Oliver's writing. Sadly like many others, I felt a bit let down by Delirium. 
 In a distant future, love aka Amor deliria nervosa has been considered a threat to humanity. All people upon reaching the age of 18 will be cured, their thoughts rendered safe and tame - where excitement, desire and fear will be eradicated. Lena, the heroine, eagerly anticipates her day for the cure as well - as going through the selection that chooses her future mate and occupation. However as incidents puncture her day to day life, Lena begins to question the ideas that her society has held and catches the deliria herself. 
 I think the worst thing about Delirium was that it was just such a letdown from Oliver's previous (and insanely good) Before I Fall. Delirium plays it safe with pretty standard dystopian tropes and an unquestioning obedient heroine. Which is unbearably disappointing considering the YA market is swarmed with dozens of stories in the same vein. The dystopian world, and surrounding characters don't really charm their way into the story and affirm Delirium to be rather dull. 
 The characters in Delirium also irked me a bit. Lena is too meek, too cautious in the beginning, and she comes off as prudish and unwilling early on. Alex and Lena's best friend who's name I can't remember right now are kinda stuck on the sidelines, and seem to appear on the story only with new information for drawing Lena into events. Chemistry between the characters all seem rather flat in that regard. Unfortunately Lena's not interesting enough to compensate for that. On the bright side, Lena grows a lot as a person and matures into someone that's willing to look you in the eye. 
 Despite the good of that, Delirium is still too typical to be taken seriously. It showcases a dystopian world where the government is all powerful and forces people to bend to their will (in this case forcing on the cure), there are people fighting the system, and a world beyond the Delirium world. Lena doesn't really have any powers on her own and she's far too reliant on the propaganda that the government has been spewing. 
 Yet, I couldn't bring myself to rate this book any lower because I still love the way Oliver writes. Using the most beautiful similes, Oliver paints detailed images of everyday occurrences verbalized into prose. Oliver perfectly captures any moment in time, with a certain blend of emotions to make it feel just right. At times, Oliver's writing seems so reassuring and soothing, yet nostalgic and all-too-familiar. 
 But if you do want to read Oliver for all she's worth, I would definitely suggest Before I Fall over this novel. Dystopian has been overdone and rarely do novels shine in this genre. Unfortunately Delirium fails to reach that distinction - stick with Before I Die instead, that's certainly a novel not to be missed.