Pandemonium #2 by Lauren Oliver

Genre: Dystopian

Hardcover: 329 Pages

Published: February 28, 2012

Series: Delirium

            1. Delirium

            2. Pandemonium

            3. Requiem

Rating:★★★★

Goodreads 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.

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.

My Review:

I loved Delirium as much as Lena loved Alex. And when the ending hit, my heart was split into two pieces. One, I wanted to push Lena into the woods and get her far away and second I wanted to jump into the book and throw Alex over the fence. It was a tragically sad ending, like Romeo and Juliet. I was anticipating a different end to Delirium. but I got something unexpected and I just wanted to throw my book across the room.

So what's happening now is...

       Lena is now living on her own in the Wilds, having a good feeling about being free. However, the loss of Alex weighs heavily on her heart. She doesn't know if he's alive or dead. Inside the walls, all hell is breaking loose and security is extra tight. While learning to live in the Wild, Lena becomes friends with the people who already live there. She has made new friends and even started to like a guy.

       This book takes place in "now'' and "then" which confused me a lot because  I was so excited to read the book that I never read the titles of the chapters. "Then" starts in August and shows Lena doing everything since she escaped and Alex was left behind. We get to see how heartbreaking it is for Lena to remember Alex. She is scared for his life and doesn't know what has happened to him. 

    "Now" is in March and takes place in New York. Lena has joined the resistance, has a fake identity and is living among the cured. She is attending Deliria-Free America (DFA) in order to keep an eye on the son of the head of the movement, Julian Fineman. During this crazy rally they both end up being kidnapped. Lena becomes very brave, strong, and fights for her life in order to live another day. There are many twists and turns during the kidnapping and Lena is strong through it all. 

      I loved the action and adventure that Oliver created. It was captivating and entertaining to read. However, the only issue I had with this book was the love triangle. I loved Delirium because the love between Alex and Lena felt real and believable. They made so many sacrifices to be together only to have another guy jump in to try to steal Lena's heart. Umm...No. I don't like love triangles and that's why this book fell a little short for me.