There were some clichés/tropes of YA dystopia, such as the America is the only place left and there are borders and barriers everywhere. The first half was a little slow at times but my interest in the world kept me interested enough. I wanted to know what was going to happen to her, where she was going to go, and who she was going to become. Her development and her past were really interesting. So often YA comes with really annoying protagonists, but I genuinely liked Lena’s character. Onto Lena herself, the protagonist – I didn’t find her annoying. The ‘love interest’, Alex, was actually likeable as well, though perhaps could have benefited from being as fleshed out as Lena and Hana. There wasn’t an annoying love triangle and there was no insta-love – the characters fell in love gradually, far more realistic.
The things that usually annoy me about romance in YA weren’t present in the book. I found myself completely intrigued by this dystopian/false utopian world. This is actually quite an interesting concept and quite believable, in the way love is presented as something which causes you pain, and that you’ll be happier without it. Love is seen as a disease which can be cured. It is an important element of the world building and essential tool to explore the nature of the presented society. I think why the romance wasn’t annoying in this book is because it was actually totally relevant to the plot. The whole point of the world Lauren Oliver has created about love so, considering the above, it would seem this is perhaps not the book for me. So I was definitely a little wary when I started Delirium. Or the genre is plagued by love-triangles, insta-love, unlikeable/unbelievable love interests and unbelievable romance. Romance can be great in any novel, but when it takes over and blots out everything else, that’s what annoys me. Romance often seems to take up so much plot of some YA dystopia novels, leaving the important stuff or action in the background.
One of the things that cheeses me off most about YA dystopia is romance. I’d heard of Delirium, but never got round to reading it until now.
A lot of YA dystopia has left me disappointed, so I’m reluctant to have too high hopes when reading this genre which I love so much. I cannot deny that I was pleasantly surprised by this book.
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