Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Requiem by Lauren Oliver
Delirium #3
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher (Edelweiss)
Goodreads Stars: 4
Rating: Essential

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. - Goodreads

While I don't think that Requiem is the strongest book in the series - that title goes to Pandemonium - I still really liked it and I am more than happy with the way things wrapped up. I think that Requiem could have been much more exciting if a few things had been adjusted, but overall it was a fantastic book! And yes, I cried.


I loved that Requiem was told from Hana's POV as well as Lena's. I really liked getting inside Hana's head because she was a cured and I was really interested in discovering more about their thought process. I loved how Hana rebelled against her fiancé. It just showed that being cured didn't mean she was weak, and she wasn't a mindless drone. 

It also led me to think about the other cured. Surely a lot of them think the same way Hana does, right? I mean, they're not being controlled (via mind powers) or brainwashed or anything. But they didn't stand up and fight the oppressive government, they just sat back and took it. Some even rolled with it, like Hana's mother. It made me so upset - and I'm getting a little bit sad again now - because... well, they're all either not strong enough to fight for themselves, or they're happy as they are. And the whole lack of love thing doesn't help matters because it basically makes them not give a damn. 

I don't really know where I was going with that, I just wanted to try to express my feelings because it made me bloody sad.

Lauren Oliver proved that writing a trilogy of books in three different ways is something that can be done. Made me feel better, since it relates to a duology I am working on! 

The ending - the final battle - was brilliant. Lots of explosions. The whole thing had me on the edge of my seat because I just didn't have a clue about what was going to happen to Lena, Hana, and the other characters that I love.

The final page made me cry so freakin' hard. Lauren Oliver's writing style is as beautiful as ever. The woman is so talented!

The way the love triangle was settled was great. It was left fairly open, and Lena loved them both. I would have liked to have seen closure regarding Julian, though, because we didn't get to see him much at the end. 

Right, what didn't I like about the book? The bloody focus on the bloody romance! It was so overdone. The first few chapters from Lena's POV are all about Alex and Julian. The girl just didn't shut up. The focus on Lena's love for Alex and Julian made me want to put the book down, and I must admit the only thing that kept me reading was Lauren Oliver's writing style. And the fact that I could not give up in the final book!

Luckily, after the first few chapters Lena calmed her loins and the action picked up. But then we hit another road block when she decided to have another crisis over which guy she preferred. Honestly, I kind of skimmed her thoughts on the two guys, because ugh. She hasn't seen Alex in months, the two barely talk in this one, and yet she still loves him and wants to be with him? Okay then. And yet she also wants to be with Julian because he's awesome, but again the two don't really talk that much. PLEASE JUST SHUT UP AND GET INTO A FIGHT WITH SOMEONE GOOD LORD.

Ehem. I really didn't care for the romance, in case you couldn't tell. 

Requiem was a fantastic end to the trilogy, and like I said, Lauren Oliver is a goddess. If you have read it, then let me know what you thought of it. Especially the final page. Did you cry? Because I wept.