Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium
by Lauren Oliver
Series: Delirium #2
Publication Date: 28 February 2012
HarperTeen, Hardcover, 375 pages
Source: Library

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WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

I’m pushing aside 
the memory of my nightmare, 
pushing aside thoughts of Alex, 
pushing aside thoughts of Hana 
and my old school, 
push, 
push, 
push, 
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

Rating: ★★★½

This is my second time reading Pandemonium – the first time I did, which was early last year, I just couldn’t get past the halfway-mark of the book. However, I recently felt this sudden urge to re-read the book, and I did manage to finish it successfully this time round. So here I am, writing my review of Pandemonium!

First off, I liked the way that the chapters were structured: they were all written from Lena’s point of view, except from ‘then’ and ‘now’. The different time frames that were used to tell the story was a little confusing initially, but it got better as the story developed. This structure blended well to show the contrast and changes in Lena’s character.

The story is centered mainly on Lena and Julian, and how Lena grows from a girl who’s both physically and emotionally weak and broken, to one that’s cold, hard and fearless. Personally, I’m glad that Lena is strong enough to be able to pick herself up and move on from Alex’s death. She was even able to fall in love again, though it seemed rather… hesitant? Reluctant? I suppose I can understand her fear of falling in love again – she had lost the people she loved as she chose to escape to the Wilds, and most importantly, she lost Alex.

I didn’t have much feelings towards Julian – he seemed pretty average to me. He was rather uptight, though, and he’s clearly brainwashed in wanting the procedure to prevent deliria. After all, his father is the head of the DFA.

As for the relationship between Lena and Julian… Well, I never understood it. Julian was like Lena’s rebound, in my opinion. It felt odd that by the end of Pandemonium, Lena was ready to love all over again. Julian was new to the whole concept of experiencing love… it just didn’t seem to fit. And like what many of my friends have commented, I agree that it’s like Lena is leading the relationship with Julian. I guess this mirrors what Alex had done in Delirium, with introducing someone, in this case Lena, who’s pro-procedure to the Wilds and love. I also knew that Alex would always be in Lena’s heart, even though she appears to have fully gotten over him towards the end of Pandemonium. I understood her confusion and her feeling lost between wanting to remain faithful to Alex even though he was dead, and wanting to fall in love with Julian. Here’s a quote from the book to show her emotions:

I squeeze my eyes shut, willing away the thought. But with my eyes closed, Julian and Alex melt together. Their faces merge and then separate, then collapse again, like images reflected in a stream, passing over each other until I am no longer sure which of them I am reaching for – in the dark, in my head.

As for Lena’s mother… yes, she did find her mom in Pandemonium, but didn’t realize it until the end. I do hope that there’ll be more of Lena and her mom in Requiem! It would be nice to see the both of them reunited.

So… That’s about all I have for my review on Pandemonium. I’m looking forward to reading Requiem, especially after Alex’s appearance! (Although I already know how Requiem‘s going to end – I gave myself tons spoilers for this trilogy.)

Yours truly

Cover Reveal and Giveaway: Follow the White Rabbit (Beautiful Madness, #1) by Kellie Sheridan

Follow the White Rabbit by Kellie Sheridan
Series: Beautiful Madness, #1
Publication date: May 21, 2013
Genre: YA Fantasy

Goodreads link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17726599-follow-the-white-rabbit

Tada!

Yes. You are looking at the cover of Follow the White Rabbit by Kellie Sheridan. Before I share my thoughts on the cover, which is designed by Ms. Sheridan herself, here is the synopsis of the book:

“For centuries, Wonderland thrived as the domain of beautiful bedlam and unapologetic madness. It was a place like no other. All it took was one girl slipping in through the cracks of the universe to start chaos spiraling toward order. In the 150 years since Alice’s visit, the realm has become tainted—almost normal. Rabbits in waistcoats and playing card minions are little more than creatures of myth, and Wonderland is literally falling to pieces.

For Gwen, Rose, and Lucky, Wonderland is home, and yet they know little of its former glory. When the Alice prophecy resurfaces, they’ll have one chance to use Wonderland’s own legends to bring a little mayhem back into their reality. For she who controls Alice controls the fate of Wonderland.”

– Goodreads synopsis

I can’t wait to read this book. I’m simply obsessed with Alice in Wonderland, and so when I first found out about Follow the White Rabbit, I was just bouncing around and going on and on about how much I want to read it.

As for my thoughts about the cover…

I thought that the cover model looked really cool with the spade face-art over her eye! (I’m going crazy over the colour of her eyes. it’s gorgeous.) And my next thought? ‘This girl has some really funky eyelashes.’ Not to mention really long ones, too! Next, her hair. I wonder how much hairspray/hair gel they used to get her hair up into two ‘bunny ears’? And the black ribbon adds on to the cover model’s innocent look.

Did I mention how much I love her eye colour?

Okay, enough on my thoughts about the cover and the book. What do you think of it? (:

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About Kellie Sheridan

Kellie Sheridan is a Canadian author and book blogger. When not reading books or writing, she also works with books. She is currently working with two small publishers on the marketing/publicity side of things, and is also Joan of ARCs at Spencer Hill Press. In her spare time Kellie watches way too much television and travels whenever she has the opportunity.

Kellie’s first YA novel, Mortality was released in March, and she is currently hard at work on future writing projects.

Author links: Website / Goodreads / Twitter

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Good news, guys! To celebrate the cover reveal of Follow the White Rabbit, we’ll be hosting a giveaway!

Yup, you read that right. What are you waiting for? Click here to join the giveaway!

Yours truly

Review: Mortality by Kellie Sheridan

Mortality
by Kellie Sheridan
Series: The Hitchhiker Strain #1
Publication date: 19 March 2013
Snarky Books, eARC, 271 pages
Source: Author

Goodreads | The Book Depository | Amazon

After surviving a deadly plague outbreak, sixteen-year-old Savannah thought she had lived through the very worst of human history. There was no way to know that the miracle vaccine would put everyone at risk for a fate worse than un-death.

Now, two very different kinds of infected walk the Earth, intent on nothing but feeding and destroying what little remains of civilization. When the inoculated are bitten, infection means watching on in silent horror as self-control disappears and the idea of feasting on loved ones becomes increasingly hard to ignore.

Starving and forced to live inside of the abandoned high school, all Savannah wants is the chance to fight back. When a strange boy arrives with a plan to set everything right, she gets her chance. Meeting Cole changes everything. Mere survival will never be enough.

Rating: ★★★

Firstly, I’d like to thank Ms. Sheridan for inviting me to host a tour stop for Mortality, as well as for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a review.

I was slightly hesitant about reading Mortality at first. I wasn’t really into zombies, and I had attempted to read another book on zombies before this but I could barely get past the first three chapters without feeling bored. However, I decided to give Mortality a go as I was hoping for a change from the many dystopian novels I had been reading – it would be refreshing to have a change from authoritarian governments and forbidden love.

Mortality was written from two viewpoints – Savannah and Zarah. I found this rather interesting, and I certainly do not think it is easy writing from two perspectives and yet allow the chapters to blend well and link together. Personally, I felt that Ms. Sheridan’s attempt at this was laudable: she let readers into the minds of two very different girls, showing contrast between their characters and the things they go through, as well as how they handled these events. Still, I was a little disappointed by how these two characters cross each other’s path. It seemed rather abrupt to me. This leads me to my next point, which is on the flow of the chapters. Honestly, I felt that the story was quite slow-moving (but I suppose you can’t expect much when living in a world overrun by zombies, and the constant need to find shelter and basic necessities to live), but there were  mini-climaxes and action to keep me reading. Personally, I also felt that the story was more rushed towards the end, which was bittersweet. Nevertheless, a plus-point of Mortality was its humour – it made the whole ‘the-world-is-ending’ situation not as heavy.

I have to admit that I liked Savannah as a character from the very first page of the story. She’s fiesty, badass (she uses a crossbow as one of her zombie-fighting weapons!), and not a damsel-in-distress. Through the book, I observed that she often took charge of things; she wanted to make a difference through the things she does. That was what made me like her character: she isn’t the type of girl who would sit around, not do anything and still expect something to happen. The downside, however, is that she can be quite reckless with her decisions, and lacks hindsight at times. I found one character trait about Savannah admirable, and that was her selflessness. She put her friends before herself, showing concern about their health as well as care and love towards them. She thought about how her decisions would directly affect the people she’s closest to, and tried hard to make things work out for everyone.

One thing that bothered me about Savannah, however, was her attraction to Alex. I mean, I just don’t get it. He’s pretty hot-tempered and violent, and I he doesn’t try to view the situation from other people’s point of view – thus giving me not a very good impression of him. I was quite disappointed with Savannah in this aspect, as her liking for Alex seemed superficial and had not much depth to it. The story did not give a background which could have supported why Savannah actually liked him. Zack, on the other hand, was much nicer. He shared a brotherly love with Savannah, and he was much more level-headed and mature.

Next, Zarah. I found her character interesting, and she’s portrayed a sweet and loyal person in the book. I’m also amazed by the amount of self-control she has. (I’m not going to talk much about her, as well as Liam and Cole, ’cause I don’t want to give any spoilers)

And so, I’ve come to the end of my review on Mortality. Despite the bittersweet ending Mortality had, I’m still looking forward to reading Duality, the second book of The Hitchhiker Strain. I certainly hope that it’ll be more action-packed, along with new adventures and obstacles for the characters to face! Do check out the prequel of Mortality, which is End Dayz. Here’s the cover and synopsis:

End Dayz
by Kellie Sheridan

It’s month after the dead first began to walk. The miracle vaccine that was supposed to save us all has failed.

Now, four teens fight to stay alive as a stronger, smarter breed of zombie begins to appear, threatening to end humanity for good.

Four short stories, 11,000 words total.

Prequel to Mortality (March, 2013).

 

That’s all for now, folks! Stay tuned and check out the interview with Ms. Sheridan that’ll be coming up shortly.

Yours truly