Review: Pandemonium

Author: Lauren Oliver
Edition: Hodder & Stoughton ebook
Released: February 1st 2012
Series: Delirium #2
Pages: n/a
Rating: See below review.

Unavoidable spoilers! Do not read if you want to read this series! :3

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.

A while back when everyone was doing reviews of Pandemonium, I was reluctant. I'd really liked Delirium but Pandemonium seemed too much like a different set-up for me. It had Now and Then chapters which I thought would be confusing and a whole new love interest. Not a change I thought I would admire. But then I got started and, surprisingly enough, I actually settled into the whole concept and really enjoyed it!

The 'Now' chapters were in the present tense and followed the storyline of Lena being kidnapped along with Julian, the son to a very important man, and the 'Then' chapters were those that showed Lena in the Wilds after her escape and how she coped with the loss of Alex and all that she left behind. One minute I loved the Then chapters, and the next, the Now.

The new love interest, Julian? Well I didn't think I would like him but as it turns out... I did! In all honesty, even though I did like Alex, I wasn't the biggest fan of his in Delirium and so I suppose Julian had easy enough standards to match up too. If I had to choose which boy I think would be best with Lena, I'd pick Julian simply because I just liked him that little bit more. I really empathised with him and just found him an overall great character. He basically had to go through the exact same thing as Lena had to in the first book - come to terms with everything the society had lied about - so I really admired him for that. But I will say this again so all you Team Alex people won't hate me. I do like Alex and I want him to be happy but I just think Lena and Julian are more suited to each other.

Oh yeah, and did anyone else keep picturing Julian like this:


Or was that just me? For some reason I just kept thinking his description matched Alex Pettyfer's... the blonde hair maybe? Julian did have blonde hair, right? :S

Anyway. On to Lena. In this book I was very glad that the author chose to spotlight it on Lena's development and growth as a character. You also begin to see her coming to terms with everything and this is very skilfully written into both the 'Now' and 'Then' chapters. I really enjoyed her personality in this book and can only hope she stays the same in the next and becomes even more confident!

Of course I can't forget to mention the ending. Just before the final pages I got this feeling about what was going to happen - and it did! Needless to say it still left me breathless and stunned. I actually think I let out a little gasp!

Overall, Pandemonium was just as good as Delirium for me. A whole new bunch of characters were introduced and it was great getting to know each of their personalities. Again, Oliver's writing style has that engrossing quality. Admittedly, it's not my favourite writing style, but for some reason I still found it really hard to stop reading. And then she tied up this book with a shocker of an ending which completely blew me away. I can only wait and wonder who Lena will pick - Alex or Julian - in the next book, Requiem.


Cover Corner: I really like the colours on this particular cover but not the way the model is positioned. I just find it rather... strange I suppose. If she had been positioned differently then this cover would've been perfect but since she's not, well it's hard to say how much I like it!

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo