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Series: Delirium #3
Publication date: March 5th, 2013
Pages: 356
Synopsis:
The third and final book in Lauren Oliver's powerful New York Times bestselling trilogy about forbidden love, revolution, and the power to choose. Now with a brand-new cover and an exclusive-to-this-book sneak peek at her next novel for teens: the ambitious, wholly original masterwork Replica.
Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has transformed. The nascent rebellion that was underway in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight. After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven. Pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels.
As Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain of the Wilds, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena's and Hana's points of view. They live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.
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Review:
I had read Delirium and Pandemonium some time ago. I was a little fuzzy when I finally got a copy from the library (it took FOREVER… seriously), but after a while I remembered what I had read in the first two books. The book did not really give much detail as to what happened in the last books except when it was pertinent so it wasn’t like other books that give a refresher course at the beginning of the each book so you can make sure to be caught up.
In Requiem the focus was more on the building to a final stand between the Invalids and “Zombies”. The love story of Alex and Lena or Julian and Lena was there, of course, but it wasn’t the most important aspects of the book. In Requiem we follow Lena and her pack of Invalids (including her two confusing and equally hot boy toys) across the country as they search for a place to call their own. As their existence became known to the Cureds finally in Pandemonium the regulators start to take strides to eradicate all Invalids from existence. To the shock of the Invalids they actually are venturing out from behind their massive walls and extracting their heads from the sand to push back against the encroaching Invalids.
As Lena becomes more and more confused about her warring feelings for Julian and Alex, their lives become a series of strategic battles and all-out bloody wars. Lena had her heroic moments but it was always with some help. She was braver and more willing to bleed for her cause than she was in the earlier books, but she was by no means as strong a leader as Tack or Raven. I liked the fact that Oliver did not automatically stick her in a leader’s position because she got lucky in a few missions or was the protagonist of her story. She kept Lena as a strong battler, but not the figurehead of the rebellion.
Alex came out of the Crypts in Pandemonium and turned into their snarky asshat in Requiem. I understand he was a bit peeved off at the end of Pandemonium with some of Lena’s actions and choices, but did that mean he had to be as broody? I think not. I still liked Alex, don’t get me wrong. I was a fan of Lena and Alex since Delirium. I just didn’t think he had to react the way he did. I think he could have either accepted it and moved on or fought for what he wanted.
Julian. Poor, sad, forgotten, Julian. I felt for the dude. Throughout the story he was trying his damned to prove he was not like the Cureds and was made for the Wilds. This ruffled a few feathers and got to be a little desperate looking, but bless his heart… he was trying. Julian was a beta character that never did anything too stand-out-ish. Even in battle scenes he was normally forgotten.
The ending of this book felt like it was cut off at the knees. I kept expecting something more extravagant or at the very least more final. Hana, who was the other half the story, struggling with a sadist future husband and questions she shouldn’t be having, had no ending at all. She simply poofed out of the story. Okay? Hana? Where’d you go? What’d you do? I NEED ANSWERS!
I liked the book, but I think it was read more like a middle book than the final book. The ending was unsatisfactory because it left a lot of stuff hanging. Cliffhangers with no chance of answers is horrible. It weighs on my heart and makes me grab fistfuls of hair and tug screaming “whyyy?!” Although, it was a good read, I needed a bit more than what I got. More resolutions and more romance would have made this book worthy of greatness.
