Pandemonium is the second book in the Delirium trilogy by
Lauren Oliver. You can read my thoughts on the first book, Delirium, here.
As this is the second book in the trilogy, the post will
almost definitely contain spoilers for the first book, so if you have any plans
to read it and hate spoilers the way I do, stop reading now!
Like I said in my post about the first book, I liked it so much that I bought
the second book as soon as I finished the first… and then I didn't touch it for
a month or so. The more time passed between reading the first book and starting
the second, the more I felt myself losing affection for the first book, and
losing enthusiasm towards the second book. Which was weird, as that almost
never happens to me. Sometimes it happens the other way round, in that I can
find something not so great, but then realise later (or trick myself into
thinking later) that it was much better than I initially thought.
So I was a bit… wary when I started reading it. I think one
of the main things that I found put me off the series was not having ANY idea
where it would go from the end of the first book, where Lena is basically left
on her own, without any of the characters who you've grown to like/dislike in
the first book. Which would be fine if you found Lena really compelling… but I’m
not sure that I do. I think I’m more interested in what she does than who she
is, if that makes sense.
Luckily, I remember while I was reading it that this series
is written really nicely, and it’s very easy to read. In this book, the story
is split between two different time periods – the time after Lena has escaped
to the wilds, and a time six months in the future. This mostly worked well,
although I wanted a bit more information to fill in the gap, as there are some
things in there which I think would have been interesting which aren't really
touched upon.
Much as I enjoyed reading the book though, the ending was
stupidly obvious, and it seems like the next book is going to go down a road
which I don’t really like in general in fiction of any kind. So I’m not rushing out to buy
it. But I’m sure I will read it at some point in the near future.
So, not a glowing review, but if you liked the first one in
the series, I think you would like this as well.
