Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
Publication Date: March 1st 2012 by Hodder
ISBN: 1444722921
Young Adult Dystopian


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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.


This book was amazing, Lauren has outdone herself. I enjoyed reading this so much, the writing just flowed from start to finish.


I had one big question starting this book. Did Alex survive? And a big part of me saying, "please let him be alive". I don't want to say "yay" or "nay" and spoil this book for anyone so I am going to review it without going too much into the storyline.


Pandemonium is written in alternating chapters of 'now' and 'then'. In the 'now', we learn the story of Lena's emergence into the Wilds and how she deals with the struggles and hardships of this new way of life. A better way of life?


Through the 'now', we see Lena working as part of the resistance, and she is about to embark on her first mission.


The ambience of this book is very downbeat throughout. Lena really struggles with her new life in the Wilds and at times, even wonders if she wants to survive. Life is hard in every way and sickness and death are a regular occurrence without access to medical supplies and often, a shortage of food.


There are a lot of new characters and I did lose track of who some of them were but it didn't impede on my following the story. The main characters are well written, identifiable and likeable.


We see a completely different Lena than we did in Delirium. She grows into a much stronger person, in every way, character, mind and body. She is amazing.


The ending of this book is explosive. While the book was suspenseful at times, I really didn't see the ending coming. It is probably the happiest part and my heart was in my mouth. Then it ends on one hell of a cliffhanger.


In Delirium, we see life from one side of the fence, the Cureds. In Pandemonium, we get to see life from the other side, the Invalids. I can't wait to see what Requiem will hold for us.

US Cover

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Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton Publishers for supplying a copy of this book for review.