Delirium

imdabomb - I thought this was a good book. So Lena; a girl living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins because her parents died is almost ready to take the procedure. The "procedure" takes place on her birthday, and it causes her to be "older" and not fall in love because the president in this book, thinks love is a disease...after people have the procedure you go to college then you get married with the person your assigned with. So ninety five days before September 3 {her birthday} she meets a guy named Alex during her evaluation, and the evaluation is when some scientists decide who she should be paired with and has her answer some questions. Before she knows it, she falls in love with Alex and has limited time to spend with him until her procedure. A couple weeks before she has it, Lena and Alex decide to take a risky route to avoid her procedure.

December 20, 2010
In her sophomore novel, Oliver (Before I Fall) presents an intriguing but disappointing thought experiment, set in a dystopian future in which American borders are sealed and civil order is enforced by regulation, vigilantism, and "the procedure," a coming-of-age lobotomy that excises amor deliria nervosa, or love. Nearly 18, Lena Haloway welcomes the prospect; her mother underwent three unsuccessful procedures and eventually committed suicide, so Lena deeply believes that love equals suffering. Still, there's a subversiveness to her thoughts and actions, from nurturing the motherless child Gracie to reading Romeo and Juliet because it is "beautiful," not the cautionary tale it's presented as. When a strange, handsome boy begins to intrude on her life, strictly against the regulations, the "beauty" of that tragic trope begins to play out swiftly and relentlessly. The prose is accomplished, and the Portland, Maine, setting wonderfully evoked. However, Oliver's nightmare future lacks a visceral punch, primarily because of the weakness of the world-building. Her America has undergone a seismic shift, but the economic, religious, and cultural ramifications are all but ignored. Ages 14–up.

Starred review from January 1, 2011
Oliver's artfully detailed prose reveals, brick by brick, the sturdy dramatic foundation of an initially implausible premise. In her dystopian America, love has been outlawed as the life-threatening source of all discord. Citizens submit at the age of 18 to a neurological procedure that "cures" them of amor deliria nervosa, the chief symptoms of which are passionate feelings about anything. Poetry and contact between members of opposite sexes are forbidden; the authoritarian government rules with suspicion, violence and bureaucratically arranged marriages. As Lena, the soon-to-be-18 narrator, approaches the date of her procedure with both trepidation and relief, she meets Alex, a boy who inspires feelings that upend everything she has believed about her community and herself. Lena's gradual awakening is set against a convincing backdrop of totalitarian horror. Chilling epigraphs from the government's rewritten histories begin each chapter, providing contextual propaganda so thorough that they've even reinterpreted the Bible to suit their message. The abrupt ending leaves enough unanswered questions to set breathless readers up for volume two of this trilogy. (Science fiction. 14 & up)

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Starred review from April 1, 2011

Gr 8 Up-In this gripping dystopian novel set in a future Portland, ME, everyone is safe, unhappiness can be cured, and the freedoms we take for granted have been relinquished in the name of "security" and "the common good." There is no risk and no pain, or at least there won't be for 17-year-old Lena Haloway and her outspoken friend, Hana, once they turn 18. They will then be eligible, in fact forced, to undergo the procedure that will render them impervious to delirium-the disease that was formerly known as love. You can see, of course, right where this is headed, but the ride is well worthwhile. Lena is an engaging and believable protagonist, at first compliant, then questioning, and finally desperate to save herself and the irrepressible emotions blooming within her. Her journey to understanding is both painful and exhilarating as she meets free-spirited Alex, succumbs to delirium, and wrestles with the social code she's been taught so well. Ultimately, Lena gets a shocking glimpse into the world outside the city's borders and witnesses the barbaric underpinnings of the "safe" world in which she has lived. Especially heartbreaking is her discovery of the fate of her mother, who was unable to stop loving her husband and daughters and paid a terrible price for her transgression. On the other hand, Lena's caring but numbed-out aunt and her scrupulously compliant older sister make clear the consequences of obedience to tyranny. Strong characters, a vivid portrait of the lives of teens in a repressive society, and nagging questions that can be applied to our world today make this book especially compelling and discussable.-Carolyn Lehman, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2010
Grades 9-12 Olivers follow-up to her smash debut, Before I Fall (2010), is another deft blend of realism and fantasy. The hook is irresistible: its the near future, a time when love has long since been identified as a disease called amor deliria nervosa, and 17-year-old Lena is 95 days away from the operation that everyone gets to cure themselves. Can you feel the swoon coming? Enter Alex, a rakish daredevil who, as it turns out, is one of the Invalidsa tribe of uncured who live on the lam in the surrounding wilderness. With the clock ticking down to her surgery, Lena is drawn into Alexs world, one of passion and freedom, while her emotionally castrated family members hope to turn her into yet another complacent zombie. Olivers masterstroke is making a strong case for love as disease: the anxiety, depression, insomnia, and impulsive behavior of the smitten do smack of infirmity. The story bogs down as it revels in romanceAlex is standard-issue perfectionbut the book never loses its A Clockwork Orangestyle bite regarding safety versus choice.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)