Synopsis: 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.

Review: I just finished Pandemonium and firstly I just have to say that I am still reeling from the ending. I mean seriously… Lauren Oliver, what are you trying to do to your readers?! LOL! It was an absolute shocker, jaw dropper of an ending, and you betcha I’m now already hanging for the third book in the series!

Pandemonium was so different to Delirium. I don’t know that I realised this going into the book, however I want to be clear that different is not worse. It was a solid read, but it did take some getting used to.

The story was told entirely from Lena’s perspective, but the chapters alternated between “then” and “now”, both telling a story of what has happened to Lena in the wilds. In one respect it was hard to follow the then/now patten since this is everything that has happened to Lena since Delirium. That being said, you get used to it.

Delirium leaves us with Lena escaping to the wilds and Alex presumably dying in front of her. The story picks up from there, with Lena stumbling into a community, still shell-shocked from what has happened to Alex. These charaters whist good, were difficult to find likeable - and I think this completely intentional really. We’re talking about characters that are emotionally disconnected because they have to be to survive.

For those of you worried you’ll miss out on the amazing love story that we had in Delirium, fear not. Pandemonium was just as steamy, if not more so than what I remember Delirium being. I absolutely adored Julian. I felt like he really made this book something special - I truly enjoyed his interactions with Lena, seeing them both come out of their shell around each other and learn to trust each other.

I can just see the Team Julian/Team Alex shirts coming…. lol

Ultimately Lauren Oliver has done it again. I think I actually might have liked Pandemonium more than Delirium. Definitely read this book if you’ve not read it yet. It’s action packed and full of near misses and adrenaline!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Lauren Oliver discusses Pandemonium: