Requiem
by Lauren Oliver
Series: Delirium #3
Publication Date: 05 March 2013
HarperCollins, Hardcover, 391 pages
Source: Library
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WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.
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.
Rating: ★★★★★
And so, another trilogy has come to an end. The Delirium trilogy has certainly left an impact on me, and one thing’s for sure by the end of Requiem: everything has changed.
Let’s kick off this review with the writing style of the book! Requiem was written from two perspectives: Lena’s and Hana’s. I did not expect Hana to be brought back into the story after she and Lena had been separated in the first book, but I agree with Adel that it was genius of Lauren Oliver to bring her back! I personally found Hana’s perspective intriguing, as it gives readers a look at what Hana’s life is like after her cure. Her thoughts have changed – which is a given – but it wasn’t exactly what I expected it to be. I had envisioned for her to be more stiff and uptight, but her thoughts seem to stray off what I would call ‘normal’ for a cured at times.
Hana also had an encounter with Willow (a friend from high school), which was definitely a creepy one. I suppose she would be labelled as a ‘reject’ after her procedure – her mind seemed to have been wired wrongly. There just seemed to be an air of gloom around her, and I absolutely detested the fact that a perfectly normal person loses her mind (literally) after the procedure. How ironic for the procedure to be called a ‘cure’ when the people become crazy after going through it.
As for Hana’s fiancé, Fred, the only thing that I can say about him is that he is terrible. Absolutely horrible and atrocious! At times, the feels were so overwhelming that I just wanted to reach into the book and strangle him to death. I pitied Hana for the fact that she was engaged to this monstrosity of a man.
Now, on to the stars of Requiem – Lena and Alex! The tension between the two was simply intense – I would say it was to the point where it felt suffocating. From the end of Pandemonium, one can already sense the tensions rising between them, especially when Alex sees Lena and Julian embracing. *cue dramatic music* And as if three wasn’t big enough a crowd, Lauren Oliver decides to add on to the drama and bring a fourth person into the picture – Coral. As this whole Alex-Lena-Julian-Coral saga takes place throughout the book, I shall not spoil it any further for you readers, and let the story take you on a wild and electrifying ride. ;)
For those who are curious about Coral, here’s what I have to say about her: she wasn’t what I had expected her to be, and although I was suspicious about her character at times, she was truly a nice person. As for Julian, he really needs to know the meaning of ‘having good timing’. I know that his intentions aren’t bad, but they’re just not appropriate for that particular moment.
The ending of Requiem was open, and left for readers to create and choose what kind of ending they wanted. This idea was constantly reiterated throughout the course of the book, using the fact that Lena and the resistance were fighting for freedom to be able to choose what they wanted, even if it meant choosing the wrong things. This ending left me with this feeling of rushing at such a fast pace and abruptly coming to a stop. I would say that the lyrics of Taylor Swift’s Red does describe how I felt:
… driving a new Maserati down a dead end street
Faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly.
Of course, ‘dead end’ wasn’t the case for Requiem. Like I had said earlier – we were free to choose whatever ending we wanted for the story. Although there wasn’t a sense of closure for Requiem, I’m happy that it ended the way it did. It fit the story just fine.
To end off my review, I must caution you readers to be prepared for huge revelations in Requiem. One left me hopping around with rage, and I was simply stunned by how huge an impact it made. It totally took me off guard, so brace yourself for it. You’ve been forewarned!
Yours truly
A Page of Heaven 