Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver {REVIEW}

Book Title: Requiem (Delirium #3)

Author: Lauren Oliver
Genre: Young Adult, Science fiction, Fantasy, Romance
Publication Date: March 5th 2013
                             by HarperTeen
ISBN: 0062014536
Edition Language: English

Thanks a gazillion to my friend Onisha for letting me borrow her copy...you are a darling!:D

Blurb: 

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 Rating: 4.5 (or somewhere in between 4.5 and 5!) out of 5 stars

My Review: 

Whoa! Can't believe I finally finished it! When I started with Delirium, I never thought that I would be so much involved with this series that will put aside all my reviewing stuff, (which is quite an injustice to the ARCs I received for which I'm feeling a twinge of guilt right now!) But apart from that, I am actually satisfied that I did.

I know my feelings seem to be a little contradictory to the rating I've given. Well you see, 'Best' is always THE best. There cannot be two 'bests' in one place at once. That was it for me for the first book of the series. But I even broke that rule after reading the second one, Pandemonium. And compared to the previous two books, I just didn't feel like I should give it a full 5 (maybe I got biased lol).

Whatever the rating says, the experience with Requiem was AMAZING. There are so many things to write, so much to say that I don't even know where to start from!  AGAIN I AM SAYING THIS, if you have NOT READ THE EARLIER BOOKS, then DO NOT read this post! Seriously, I mean I try to be as much spoiler-free as possible while posting a review, but it gets harder while reviewing books of a series.

Another edition of the hardcover

First Let's talk about the characters. Apart from Lena (Did I mention previously that I love her? I guess I
did) I loved Hana. It's really wonderful to see the author dividing the chapters with "LENA" and "HANA" narrations. It makes the story all the more interesting and gives a very clear view to Hana's character. The building up is so damn interesting that for a moment I forgot the story started with Lena once (sorry deary:p) And for Lena, I loved the way her feelings for Alex and Julian are described side by side.

"...I’ve accepted that I will never love Julian as much as I loved Alex. But now that idea is overwhelming, like a wall between us. I will never love Julian like I love Alex.”

And the descriptions. WOW. Really, it's so nice that at times I couldn't help visualizing the narration myself. There was one point, for instance, where I found myself imagining Lena's position (Am I a bit loony? Maybe!):

"I can’t remember how long it has been since I’ve slept so deeply. I don’t even remember dreaming. I wonder whether this is what it is like to be cured, to wake up refreshed and renewed, undisturbed by the long, shadowy fingers that reach for you in sleep."

Like the previous books it was action packed. Hana and Lena's internal as well as external struggle to make things work, for their survival and existence is something very much worth reading. All the actions, movements, mishaps, shocks and deaths come smoothly but awesomely throughout the story.

“That is the rule of the Wilds: You must be bigger and stronger and tougher. You must hurt or be hurt.” 

The ending....now the ending according to me was a little unexpected. I don't say I am all for the gooey romantic happy ending type of thing, but come on! Who doesn't like one? Still, I know, I myself would have stamped it as predictable if the author would have ended the book otherwise. Whatever the ending is, I think it is quite apt for the storyline. (I guess this is where my stupid heart failed to give it a full rating:p)

I really wish Lauren Oliver adds other books to this series, though I know things won't be the same then. Mabe some things are to be left 'incomplete'. This is the way they are supposed to be. I am sad to have finished reading the book at last. This is probably a problem everyone faces while reading an aswesome series as this one. I remember being all teary after the Harry Potter series ended, (not that much) sad when the Twilight series was done with and now this. Oliver is one hell of an author who knows how to give the readers a perfect dose...along with the wonderful journey into the world of The Delirium Trilogy, she has given me THE DISEASE for it!  

Amor deliria nervosa...