Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Title: Pandemonium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publish Date: February 28, 2012
Genre: YA, dystopian
Pages: 375
Series: Delirium #2
1. Delirium (review)
2. Pandemonium
3. Requiem (expected pub Feb 2013)

**WARNING: SPOILERS**

Synopsis:
I'm pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

From Goodreads

The bottom line in this book is: survive. Whether it’s “Now,” 6 months after Lena’s escape, or “Then,” within days of it, the only thing that matters is to survive. Lena was having trouble doing so in the Wilds because it’s hard to survive when you’re still so dependent on the Insiders. In “Then,” Lena is helping the resistance and her survival isn’t as jeopardized… that is, until she’s kidnapped with the son of the leader of the Deliria Free America (DRA). And then survival is once again her main concern.

I loved how this was told in “Then” and “Now”. The tough thing about it was how each chapter seemed to end in a cliffhanger! And then I’d turn the page expecting to see what happens next, but it’d jump to the other time frame, and I’d have to get to the next chapter for relief from the cliffhanger. It was like this almost constantly, but I loved it. It made me want to keep reading and reading until I’d read it all.

I have to say, I’m still in love with Alex. Throughout this book, I refused to believe he was dead, even though Lena was convinced that he was. Every time she mentioned him (which was rare) or thought of him, my heart hurt for her. And now I don’t know what to think. So much happened in this book and I don’t know what to think or feel anymore. I’m sure Lena feels the same way. But you’ll have to read to find out exactly why.

There were so many new characters in this book, which is to be expected since Lena knows no one when she runs away to the Wilds. Raven was a great character, but I kept forgetting she was so young because she had so much responsibility and acted much older. For some reason, I really liked Hunter even though he was hardly a big character. And I have mixed feelings about Julian… I can’t figure out how I feel about him.

Pandemonium is a fantastic sequel! I didn’t expect what I found in the pages, but it was a beautifully written, intense story that I didn’t want to put down. I can’t wait to see how this series ends in book 3, Requiem.