Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Delirium #3

Pages: 400

Received: Borrowed from Christa @ More Than Just Magic

Release Date: March 6, 2013
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Goodreads Synopsis

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

My Review:

This is a series that I have fallen in love with over the past year (I only started reading it around the time PANDEMONIUM was coming out). This has been a series that I continually suggest people read because it so so unique and beautiful and I have fallen in love with all of the characters. This is a hard review to write because of my love for the series and I don't want to spoil this book for readers. This whole series is completely different, and Lauren Oliver's writing is beautiful and she such a large fan base, Lena's story is absolutely captivating.

I was nervous going into this book, wondering what Lauren Oliver would do and where she would take the story... Would my heart be broken into a million pieces when I finally closed the book? I was definitely surprised at everything that happened in this book, and yet I loved every minute of my reading experience. I wish I had savoured it more, knowing that I have finished my journey with these characters. I loved Lena throughout everything, she really grows over the entire series, and you can see a huge difference in her at the end of this one.

It was interesting to see the two different perspectives, a back and forth between what Lena is going through and what Hana is dealing with after Lena left. After reading the short story Hana, I was interested to know more about her situation and what things must be going through her head, and Oliver really made you care for Hana in this book. There were definitely some interesting characters in Hana's life in REQUIEM, that I was very surprised by at times.

There was only one small thing in this book that kind of disappointed me and that was that there were things that came up quite late in the book. I felt that things were not as fleshed out as they could have been if they were brought up earlier in the book. I can't really say much without giving away spoilers...

The ending of this book really took me by surprise, and after finishing, I sat down and really thought about everything that happened in this series. It's one of those books that after reading it you really just want to reflect on everything that happened and really think about what you have been through with the characters. I love everything that Lauren Oliver did with this book, and I'm sad to see this series end... to be honest a part of me was hoping as I was reading that she may try to drag it out a little longer.

If you have yet to read this series, now is the time to go through all three books without having to wait for the next one!