Requiem by Lauren Oliver - Revision history

Sue at 13:32, 25 February 2018

2018-02-25T13:32:59Z

Sue at 14:12, 22 November 2014

2014-11-22T14:12:01Z

Sue at 11:32, 16 March 2013

2013-03-16T11:32:40Z

Sue at 16:49, 14 March 2013

2013-03-14T16:49:09Z

Sue: Created page with "{{infobox |title=Requiem |author=Lauren Oliver |reviewer=Robert James |genre=Teens |rating=5 |buy=Yes |borrow=Yes |isbn=978-1444722970 |pages=384 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton..."

2013-03-11T08:39:15Z

Created page with "{{infobox |title=Requiem |author=Lauren Oliver |reviewer=Robert James |genre=Teens |rating=5 |buy=Yes |borrow=Yes |isbn=978-1444722970 |pages=384 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton..."

New review

{{infobox
|title=Requiem
|author=Lauren Oliver
|reviewer=Robert James
|genre=Teens
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1444722970
|pages=384
|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton
|date=March 2013
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444722972</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1444722972</amazonus>
|website=http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/
|video=
|summary=An absolutely stunning read, this conclusion to Lauren Oliver's ''Delirium'' trilogy is the best in the series and makes the set of books a massive recommendation.
}}
Warning: Spoilers for [[Delirium by Lauren Oliver|Delirium]] and [[Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver|Pandemonium]] below!

Out in the Wilds, Lena is now trying to cope with the return of her first love Alex along with her feelings for Julian, but these relationship issues take a backseat as life becomes very dangerous for her, and everyone else. Back in Portland, her friend Hana is set to marry the man who will become Mayor - a perfect pairing, surely? While both girls have changed a lot since the start of book one, the biggest changes are still to come...

The strongest parts of the Delirium series, for me, have always been Oliver's gorgeous writing style and the character development of narrator Lena. With that in mind, I was initially surprised when I realised Lena's old friend Hana - who played a big part in Delirium but wasn't involved much in the second book - was narrating part of it. While it seemed a bizarre idea to switch from one narrator to two at this point in the series, it actually works stunningly well, giving us an insight into the life of someone who's been 'cured'. The main reason it works so well it that, like Lena, Hana has an exceptionally strong voice, and I was completely captivated by both of their stories.

We also get a memorably nasty villain here, evil enough to make your skin crawl, and a staggering amount of action in what's a comparatively short novel, at least in contrast to series like [[Twilight by Stephenie Meyer|Twilight]] where every new book got longer and longer. This is a relatively quick, and completely engrossing, read which I didn't put down once between starting and finishing it. Oh, and as well as the main novel, there's a bonus story told from Alex's point of view, which is well worth reading.

What we don't get - thankfully, from my point of view! - is much of the love triangle which I'd been expecting to take centre stage. While both Alex and Julian play a part, and Lena still has feelings for them, rather than concentrating on the romance the book spends far more time on the action, and we see Lena complete her transformation from the meek girl desperate to receive the cure for love who we saw at the start of the first book into a seriously awesome heroine. It's a massive shift from the priorities of book one, but it really does pay off.

As for the ending... wow! I can see this one really dividing people - it's an open ending which definitely leaves a fair bit to the imagination, but for me it was perfect. It ended on just the right note, wrapped up enough to be truly satisfying, and the last few paragraphs, in particular, were completely heartbreakingly beautiful. Massively recommended, and overall this trilogy go from being a fairly strong recommendation to a huge one, as one of my favourite teen trilogies of recent years, on the strength of this concluding volume.

For dystopian fiction recommendations, it's hard to avoid the obvious recommendation of [[The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins]], and despite my issues with the final book of that trilogy it's still worth a read.

{{amazontext|amazon=1444722972}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=9250134}}
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[[Category:Dystopian Fiction]]

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-{{infobox
+{{infobox1
 |title=Requiem
 |author=Lauren Oliver
@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton
 |date=March 2013
 |website=http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/
 |video=
 |summary=An absolutely stunning read, this conclusion to Lauren Oliver's ''Delirium'' trilogy is the best in the series and makes the set of books a massive recommendation. Lauren Oliver popped into Bookbag Towers to [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Lauren Oliver|chat to us]].
 }}
 Warning: Spoilers for [[Delirium by Lauren Oliver|Delirium]] and [[Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver|Pandemonium]] below!

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 For dystopian fiction recommendations, it's hard to avoid the obvious recommendation of [[The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins]], and despite my issues with the final book of that trilogy it's still worth a read.
-{{amazontext|amazon=1444722972}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=9250134}}
+{{amazontext|amazon=1444722972}}
 {{interviewtext|author=Lauren Oliver}}

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 |date=March 2013
 |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444722972</amazonuk>
-|amazonus=<amazonus>1444722972</amazonus>
+|amazonus=<amazonus>B00A4YZWN2</amazonus>
 |website=http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/
 |video=