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Book Review: Requiem – Lauren Oliver

Requiem
Author: Lauren Oliver
Series: Delirium #3
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Dystopia
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins

Goodreads | Amazon | TBD

Summary:

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past. But we are still here. And there are more of us every day.
Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way 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 now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

 
First Sentence: I’ve started dreaming of Portland again.

My Review:

I absolutely couldn’t wait to get my hands on Requiem and read it the day it came out. I wanted answers, the most important one being who does Lena end up with? However, a month before Requiem actually came out, I was on goodreads, reading every single ARC review available for Requiem, desperately wanting to know who Lena ends up with, and finally found my answer. However, that didn’t affect my desire to read Requiem as soon as I got my hands on it at all. I was so looking forward to seeing how Lauren Oliver ended her series. Will it amaze me? Make me cry? Who would die? However, once more reviews started emerging on goodreads, focusing on how people were so disappointed with Requiem, I waved all their thoughts away, pretty sure that I would love Requiem and that I shouldn’t worry. To my utter shock, I have to side with the people who didn’t like Requiem at all. It was like a totally different book from Delirium and Pandemonium.

“You know you can’t be happy unless you’re unhappy sometimes, right?” (210)

The main problem with Requiem was the plot. It was just more resistance fighting told from Lena’s point of view – Hana’s marriage drama told from Hana’s point of view – more resistance fighting – and repeat. Nothing truly captured my attention and really held it. The entire book felt really flat and boring to me, except for two minor short scenes. I could care less about Lena’s situation or Hana’s situation.

Remember the tense situation with Lena choosing between Alex and Julian that Pandemonium left off with? It all just seemed too fake to me in Requiem, I wasn’t really feeling the anger, hurt, and the I do not care vibes from Alex or Lena, nor do I appreciate Lena’s I’ll-hang-all-over-Julian attitude because Alex ignored her. Meanwhile, poor Julian is just left there hanging, then starts being Mr. Clingy and Mr. Territorial. I was just rolling my eyes throughout the entire love triangle scenes. The entire situation just seemed wrong. It didn’t get me antsy, jumpy, or made me tear my hair out at Lena’s soon-to-come decision. By the end of Requiem, I could care less about who Lena ended up with. I just wanted the book to be over with.

“I thought you were dead,” I say. “It almost killed me.”
“Did it?” His voice is neutral. “You made a pretty fast recovery.” (25, 26)

To make matters worse, the one main reason why I was so looking forward to reading Requiem – it was told from Hana’s point of view – was a major disappointment. I was looking forward to reading about how much Hana has changed after she had the cure…only she sounded like a regular human being that still felt leftover emotions from love: grief, sorrow, nervousness, and completely isolated. I found myself dreadfully hating Hana (I already knew what she did when I read the short story novella Hana, but all my anger came out when I actually read Requiem) and wishing she would somehow die every single time we read about her. Hana was such a hypocrite that I just wanted to go into the book and slap her.

I think of Lena and those pictures of the Wilds on fire. I wonder what she would be doing now had she stayed. She would be sleeping soundly in a decent bed; she would rise tomorrow to the sun coming up over the bay. (116)

Unlike other people, I actually liked how Requiem ended. In fact, that’s the only part of Requiem I actually liked. Yes, the ending does leave thing unfinished and doesn’t give us any real answers, but that’s the point, you can leave everything else into your imagination. Maybe later, after I really really think about it I’ll change my mind, but as for now, I like what Lauren Oliver did.

I will make a pact with you: I will do it if you will do it, always and forever.
Take down the walls. (391)

Overall, if you were expecting to love Requiem like I did, be prepared to be bored to death instead and be disappointed. I hate how the series ended on such a bad note, especially since there would be no sequels to fix it. Maybe I’ll do a series round-up post when I have time to give you my overall feelings on the Delirium trilogy. Maybe.

twopointfive

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-Kelly

Posted by Kelly on 3-22-13 · 23 Comments
Categories: 2013 book, book review Tagged: 2.5 star

« Let’s Speculate: How Do You Deal With Reading Slumps?
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Speak Your Mind

  1. ohdamnbooks says

    3-23-13 at 12:37 AM

    I definitely agree that the majority of the book seemed to have nothing of interest occurring. Lena’s indecisiveness was probably one of the most annoying things about the book, as was Hana’s hypocrisy (as you said in your review). I personally feel that the ending of the book was much too open. I sort of wanted to see a clean cut ending after the indecisiveness throughout the entire series.

    Nara @ Looking for the Panacea

    Reply
  2. ohdamnbooks says

    3-23-13 at 5:00 PM

    Yeah, I can definitely see why you want a clean cut ending compared to all the indecisiveness going on throughout the book.
    And oh my goodness, don’t you hate Hana? Ugh, I couldn’t stand her. D:<

    Reply
  3. ohdamnbooks says

    3-24-13 at 4:49 AM

    She was definitely annoying. I can say that much. (And she definitely didn’t sound like she was cured. She sounded normal)

    Reply
  4. ohdamnbooks says

    3-24-13 at 5:18 PM

    Yeah! I was so looking forward to seeing how cured people think, but I guess we wouldn’t ever find out now. :l

    Reply
  5. Coreena McBurnie says

    3-24-13 at 11:20 PM

    That’s too bad about this book. I’ve been waiting to read it anxiously. Maybe it’s hard when there is so much expectation, but to be bored through so much of it… Thanks for the honest review.

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      3-26-13 at 12:19 PM

      Yeah, expectations definitely kind of ruined it. I was expecting to really enjoy reading Hana’s chapters, but instead of enjoying them, I wanted to teach her a lesson.

      Reply
  6. Jules says

    3-30-13 at 10:14 AM

    I’ve been torn between buying Through The Ever Night and Requiem on the bookstore. Glad that I chose the former. I feel like I’ll just rip the book, or my hair apart if I actually read it.
    Jules recently posted…Book Review: Barely Breathing by Rebecca DonovanMy Profile

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      3-30-13 at 11:36 AM

      Yep, not buying Requiem until you’ve read it is a good idea. I was facepalming so much because of Lena, then Julian, then Hana. Everyone annoyed me except for the minor characters. ):
      Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [26]My Profile

      Reply
      • Jules says

        3-31-13 at 1:46 AM

        Its too bad though. I loved the first two books. :(
        Jules recently posted…Book Review: Barely Breathing by Rebecca DonovanMy Profile

        Reply
        • Kelly says

          3-31-13 at 11:36 AM

          If you loved the first two books, then I recommend trying Requiem yourself. Maybe you’ll end up liking it better than I did. (:
          Kelly recently posted…Monthly Wrap Up: March 2013My Profile

          Reply
          • Jules says

            4-01-13 at 2:24 AM

            Yeah. I’ll try. Thanks again. :D
            Jules recently posted…Book Review: Barely Breathing by Rebecca DonovanMy Profile

  7. Christine says

    4-08-13 at 4:50 PM

    I was also kinda disappointed of how Requiem ended. It was too much open ended that I felt that another book should be followed just to clear things out. AND, I also hated HANA. I was quite eager to know how it feels like to be cured, but much to my disappointment, she was still the uncured Hana Tate.

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      4-08-13 at 5:17 PM

      Yeah, I hated Hana. Lauren Oliver is visiting NYC this month and I’m tempted to go up to her and ask why did you not kill Hana?!
      Kelly recently posted…Series Overview: The Goddess Test Trilogy – Aimee CarterMy Profile

      Reply
      • Christine says

        4-10-13 at 7:29 AM

        Hahahaha!!! That would be a good idea! I wonder what acceptable reason would she give us…

        Reply
        • Kelly says

          4-10-13 at 2:49 PM

          I’m more afraid of her glare!
          Kelly recently posted…Waiting On Wednesday [26]My Profile

          Reply
          • Christine says

            4-10-13 at 6:02 PM

            I guess she would be willing to know the opinions of her readers… Who knows, maybe she also hates Hana. Lol

  8. Cali W. says

    7-10-13 at 3:51 PM

    Good review. A lot of people were really disappointed in this book. I just didn’t like the feeling in the end where I was thinking well what happens now. Lauren Oliver has a new book coming out soon too, called Panic.

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      7-10-13 at 4:56 PM

      Lauren Oliver said that she wanted US to make our own ending which was why she ended Requiem that way, so maybe we can just do that. o:
      Kelly recently posted…ARC Book Review: This Song Will Save Your Life – Leila SalesMy Profile

      Reply
  9. Fatma Shahin says

    8-15-13 at 5:16 PM

    I really did not like how this series ended :( it was such a great series but the ending was so vague and it overlooked so many of the characters. It was very frustrating for me to have invested in so many characters and then have the ending ignore so many of them!

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      8-17-13 at 11:13 AM

      Yeah, I’m a bit disappointed that Requiem left off with such an open ending. :l
      To read all three books in the trilogy and to only be left with that…
      Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [46]My Profile

      Reply
  10. Ashfa says

    10-20-13 at 4:08 AM

    This really is disappointing, I loved Pandemonium and have been dying to get my hands on Requiem…. Oh well, guess its a trend now in YA novels to end on a bad note…*sigh*

    Reply
  11. Hillary R. says

    10-27-13 at 3:31 PM

    Every book that’s part of a series always makes me feel weary because I know there’s going to be a day that the series will end. I couldn’t have felt more weary and scared of Requiem because I knew that was the end for the Delirium series. And I couldn’t have been more right. While reading Requiem I felt worried that it wouldn’t end the right way, but despite what others thought I felt that it ended the way it had to. A happily ever after would have been too perfect and too much for a book like Requiem and I’m glad Lauren Oliver decided to end it the way she did. I hope the next time she writes a series it will end the way it’s supposed to :)

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. ARC Book Review: Vanishing Girls – Lauren Oliver says:
    3-06-15 at 9:10 AM

    […] interested in Vanishing Girls at all when I first saw it. After how Lauren Oliver ended Requiem, I absolutely refused to read another one of her books, no matter how good her writing was. How did […]

    Reply

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