Requiem - Lauren Oliver

Requiem (Delirium Trilogy)

Author: Lauren Oliver

Published by: HarperCollins

*This post contains spoilers.*

This is the third, and final book, in a three-part series. You can click on the titles to read reviews of the first two books: Delirium and Pandemonium.

Now that the Cureds have accepted that the Invalids are not only alive and well but thriving, the war between them grows more and more intense. Lena and her group are traversing the Wilds trying to make it to Portland where a huge battle is rumored to occur. Stuck trying to figure things out between Julian and Alex seems trivial at this crucial point in the war, but Lena can't help but think about them both. Lena's friend, Hana is getting ready for her wedding to the mayor and through her we learn what is happening within the city.

Let me start off by saying. I hated this book. I think it was such a disappointment. It was the complete antithesis to Delirium. Where Delirium was about love and left you wanting more: Requiem is bland and slow.

What I really hated was the ambiguous unending of the book. There are some stories that can do this type of ending justice. The movie Inception comes to mind. We're not left with a definite answer but the plot is so intricately woven around itself and its own special philosophy that we don't feel cheated after investing two hours of our time with the characters.

That is not the case with Requiem.

She tells so much in the first two books that to not answer some questions, to not finish the book seems like a cop-out.

And I don't need concrete, solid answers to everything but a bit more (especially after investing a thousand pages in) would have been great.

I hated that the love triangle wasn't sorted out. I like to think that Lena and Alex were meant for each other. But if that is the case, Lena lead Julian on and that just isn't right. She led him on, in a bad way. During war! For survival. He fought alongside her, for her, he anted up when they went to the Wilds and she completely used him. After that, I just can't help but bump Lena down a few pegs. A simple conversation between the two of them would have left her respectability intact.

I also hated the half-a-page reunion between Lena and her mom. I mean, WHAT?! This lady escaped the Crips because she was so full of love for her daughters, for life. And yet she never tries to contact her to tell her? I would understand if Lena had stayed in Portland for the procedure. To contact her then would have been to put Lena in jeopardy. But as soon as Bee knew Lena was part of the Resistance she should have gone to her and screamed it from the rooftops because they can never take that away, remember?!

I also didn't like that we never know what happens to Hana. And I mean more so...was her procedure a botch job or did a lot of Cured people feel this way and they just learned to control it better?

And Grace?! Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? What happened to Grace that she found her voice? After refusing to speak for so long I couldn't help but feel that something major had to go on in her life for that change. A little snippet, clue, throwaway to what that might have been would be awesome.


Ugh. I'm just so, so disappointed.

I'm sorry if this review is just a horrible, incomprehensible rant. You deserve better. But then again, so did I.


I give it one cateye.