Remember, They Cannot Take It

"But it does not tell you this: 

that love will turn the whole world 

into something greater than itself."

--Lauren Oliver, Delirium

Genre: YA Dystopian

Publisher: HarperTeen, 441 pages

Publication Date: February 1st, 2011
Source: Bought

Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

My Thoughts

...This is gonna be really hard...I'm gonna try to make this make sense and start at the beginning. So, this isn't the first time I've read Delirium. I won an ARC of Requiem (eeeeep!!!!!) from Epic Reads because I was the luckiest human alive that day and because of this I wanted to read the entire series, start to finish, all 3 books, and experience the entire story. I like to remember my original thoughts and feelings while re-reading. I looooove re-reading. AND I like to have all details of the story fresh in my mind before a new installment of the series comes out. ALSO, triple word score on this book, with re-reading that means I get to write a review. I read this before I started blogging so now I get to unleash all my inner thoughts of this amazing piece of work. So, here we go...

Like I said above this is going to be hard...I love this book. Love. Pun intended. I have a full blown case of amor deliria nervosa. Lock me away in the Crypts. I can't help it. It's there. Because of this, I feel like I won't be able to verbalize all my feelings that happened while reading but I'll try. So first off, the entire concept that love is a disease because it doesn't let you think clearly or rationally is so bloody brilliant and clever that I've read this book now twice, and I'm still slack-jawed in awe. It makes so much sense. I'm not saying I want the cure, but how Oliver describes it attributes as being a disease is nothing short of high-class creativity. Amazing.

Know what else is amazing? The characters. Lena is our main girl and she is on the straight and narrow. Her family has had previous run-ins with the regulators and all she wants is to fly under the radar, get cured, and not ever worry about getting sick. But that doesn't happen, does it? Not in the least. Lena falls in love. Her character is one of my hands down favorites in YA literature. She is so real and believable and genuine. She takes a lot of convincing to see the cracks in the way of life around her. Of all the YA dystopian female characters, Lena is the one I can see myself the most in. While in my head I would love to think of myself as badass and rebellious rebel without a cause that knows inherently how to kick major ass...in reality, I'm a lot like Lena. I respect authority. I follow the rules. I like to keep things in order. Do I have a thick head and stubborn streak and always speak my mind? Yes. But when it comes to a dystopian rebellion, I would need some encouragement to change the way I've been thinking for the past 2 and a half decades. I would be very similar to Lena in the respect. Her transformation in this novel is one of the best, if not the best, in all the books I've read. At the beginning she is awkward and unsure and completely against all resistance but by the end she is so strong. And confident. And wants to stand up for what she believes. Oh, it is just beautiful to see her grow so much in one book.

Alex. Where do I even begin with this one? The entire book the first time I read it ripped my soul a little because of how good it was. Second time around...wasn't any easier. Alex is just perfection. His character is so damn adorable. He's kind, caring, sweet, thoughtful and oh so honorable. He loves Lena and sees into who she is inside before she even knew. I found this piece of the story one of my favorites because that is what I think true love should do to you. Help you see the other person's strengths even before they themselves do. Alex and Lena do this for one another. The believe in each other. It is inspiring.

The writing of this novel is too good for words to capture. The emotional draw of her words makes you feel like you're jumping into the pages themselves. I felt surrounded by them. I fell down the rabbit hole without a doubt. My chest ached at certain points because the writing is so poignant and just plain beautiful. The fact that love is central theme of this book is amazing. I love a good dystopia and I found this one refreshing in respect that is dealt a lot on one emotion. Love is so prevalent and powerful; I could not get enough of this theme. The discussion of sacrifice, too, is a beautiful theme in this novel. So many people give up so much in order to fight and stand up for love. It truly is inspiring.

I don't say this about a lot of books, only a select few, but this book is characterized to me as a soul-ripper. So good. So powerful. So emotional that you can feel it inside you. Because of this, I feel like my soul tore a little because of how emotionally invested I was in this book. I had to keep updating my Goodreads and Twitter status because every time I found a good quote, I HAD to share it! So, if you want, I'm adding a few of my favorites down here. If you have not read this yet, please do so, you will not regret it. It is beyond amazing. :) On to Pandemonium!

Favorite Quotes

"You can build walls all the way to the sky and I will find a way to fly above them. You can try to pin me down with a hundred thousand arms, but I will find a way to resist. And there are many of us out there, more than you think. People who refuse to stop believing. People who refuse to come to earth. People who love in a world without walls, people who love into hate, into refusal, against hope, and without fear"

"It's amazing how words can do that, just shred your insides apart. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me - such bullshit.” 

“No guy in his right mind would ever choose me when there are people like Hana in the world...So I'll be happy to receive my neat, printed sheet of 'Approved Matches.' It means I'll end up with somebody. It won't matter if nobody ever thinks I'm pretty (although sometimes I wish, just for a second, that somebody would).” 

“Sometimes I feel as though there are two me's, one coasting directly on top of the other: the superficial me, who nods when she's supposed to nod and says what she's supposed to say, and some other, deeper part, the part that worries and dreams... Most of the time they move along in sync and I hardly notice the split, but sometimes it feels as though I'm two whole different people and I could rip apart at any second.” 

"But it does not tell you this: that love will turn the whole world into something greater than itself.""

"Love, the deadliest of all deadly things: It kill you both when you have it and when you don't...Love: It will kill you and save you, both.""

"Most things, even the greatest movements on earth, have their beginnings in something small.""