Reveal: The Cover for Lauren Oliver's Newest Novel

Coming March 2014

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (2nd in the Delirium Series)

Pandemonium
Author:  Lauren Oliver
Published:  February 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 384
Genre:  YA/dystopian fiction
ISBN 9780061978067
Series: Includes  Delirium, Pandemonium. and Requiem (to be released February 2013)

"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 Timesbestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite."

First off, take a look at this gorgeous cover!!  Stunning autumnal colours, vivid and bright.  A protea or two graces the cover too.  I am so glad this cover was designed from the beginning to complement the special edition cover of Delirium.  Both are breathtaking!

Second, why Pandemonium?  

Pandemonium, definition:

1. Wild uproar or unrestrained disorder; tumult or chaos

2. A place or scene of riotous uproar or utter chaos

Are you one of many readers in a state of uproar, waiting to read Pandemonium?  Did you stand in line to get a copy?  

Pandemonium is the world in an uproar, as the story of Delirium continues in this second book in the trilogy.  In Delirium we are introduced to a society, a country even, in which love is considered a disease and all must be vaccinated, beginning at the age of 18, against it.  Vaccinating involves lasers, brain surgery...nothing major, right?  Yet, it is the norm.  It is taught in school, in homes, everywhere you look.

In Delirium, Lena discovers some truths about love.  Perhaps everyone is wrong?  What if everyone is wrong?  When she meets Alex, she begins to question all she has learned her entire life.  Things that are so ingrained that they are second nature.  To be together, they must escape but as they do, running for the fence that encloses their community, Alex is shot and captured.  Lena does the only thing she can do, she runs.

The beginning of Pandemonium finds Lena collapsed in the woods, where Raven finds her.  Raven is an infidel.  With her, Lena discovers a new life, a new Lena, a new world...without Alex.  He fills her memories...her dreams...but he is gone and Lena must find a way to go on, to live, to survive.

Pandemonium finds Lena vulnerable, afraid and weak from her injuries.  Time heals her physical wounds and the emotional despair lessens and Lena finds herself acting as a spy.  She is in New York, spying on the son of the DFA leader, pretending to be one of them, acting cured and in favour of the cause to eradicate the disease called love.  But in all this, Lena finds herself in physical and emotional danger... danger of falling in love...again.  Where does this all lead her?  From vulnerable to resistance fighter, from sorrow to hope, and possibly to love.  But then, in the last few paragraphs, a twist is unveiled that leaves the reader hanging.....

The state of Pandemonium is not decreased when the book ends....if anything, it is renewed.  Requiem is a year away.  That's a year to contemplate the books, to think about Lena and Justin and the infidels and.......well, I cannot share more.  It'll spoil the ending for you.  (though, I suspect you will be expecting something of the sort anyway and it leads to a whole new entanglement as Pandemonium leaves off where Requiem will begin again.  Can you wait for it?  It'll be difficult.....I know you are going to look up the definition for requiem now, aren't you?)

Pandemonium takes on a different feel as the story of Delirium changes.  Lena changes and the movement to stop treatment against love grows stronger and more urgent.  Pandemonium sees Lena become a resistance fighter.  She is so caught up in the urgency and action that the little changes go undecipherable, at least at first.  Many will read this book and wonder how she can do what she does.  Is it betrayal?  Under these extraordinary circumstances, do you think it is a likely conclusion?  If you've read Pandemonium, please share your thoughts on this with me.  I know some readers didn't like the path Pandemonium took, didn't like Lena's choices, were even upset over the storyline.  Are you one?  

All in all, Pandemonium is well-written.  It evokes emotions and some heated conversations.  It calls several things into question.  In other words, Pandemonium does just that...it evokes Pandemonium!

Well done, Lauren Oliver!!

*I borrowed Pandemonium from a friend who was dying to read the book...it was all she could talk about for months!!

Purchase your copy of PANDEMONIUM today (on sale 2/28/12)!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/vdHmca
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/un6OIv
iBookstore: http://bit.ly/tu5aOO
IndieBound: http://bit.ly/vd4nZk

Browse Inside Pandemonium
10 Reasons Why You Should Read Pandemonium

Lauren Oliver Reads From Pandemonium

Lauren Oliver Discusses Pandemonium (Releases in 10 days!!)

According to Harper Collins Facebook page, Pandemonium will release in 10 days!!!  Who's excited now?

Author Lauren Oliver Discusses PANDEMONIUM - the riveting sequel to Delirium

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver - children's book review

Liesl & Po

Author:  Lauren Oliver

Illustrator: Kei Acedera

Published:  2011

Publisher:  Harper Collins Children's Books, a division of Harper Collins Publishers

Pages: 320

ISBN 9780062014511 (trade bdg)

          9780062107398 (international edition)

Genre:  fantasy - middle grade 

Source:  free ebook at www.harpercollinschildrens.com

Author site: www.laurenoliverbooks.com

Track your favourite author on:  www.authortracker.com

Also available as an ebook

Coincidence; mix-ups;

harmless mistakes and switches,

And so a story is born

My review: 

The world has not seen the sun for 1728 days and little Liesl has been locked in the attic for 13 months.  Her father had been ill in the hospital and died three days ago when the story begins.  Liesel's wicked stepmother keeps Liesl locked up, telling her it is unsafe to come out.  Young and naive, Liesl believes...that is...until she meets Po, a shadowy form of a figure, an "it", neither boy nor girl, and its pet Bundle which is neither cat nor dog or perhaps it is both. Po and Bundle are ghosts from the Other Side.  Since her father's death, Liesl has ceased to draw, her grief is to great.  This is what draws Po and Bundle to her.  It is also what draws Will to her. 

Will is a young orphan working in slavitude for the Alchemist.  Beaten and near starvation, he is a prisoner too.  When sent on an errand one evening, he stops to look up at Liesl's window, where she once sat while drawing.  He has seen her there before but tonight she is not to be seen.  This is also the night Will mistakes a box for another at the mortician's and changes the events of his life and Liesl's and countless others.

Liesl & Po is written for middle grade, ages 10 and up, but its whimsical and sweet message and beautiful artistry captures the imagination and attention of the older child and even the adult reader.  Though it is not adult fare, I did enjoy reading it.  I found this story quite charming, particularly when I read the author's note at the end of how her own personal experience with a friend's death left her feeling like she was in a sunless world, all grey and dreary, and somewhat alone, as Liesl and Will felt.  I enjoyed the parallels and how Lauren Oliver pulled it all together in an intense climax.  There is a happy ending.  Would I recommend this book?  Without a doubt, yes! 

Delirium Is Contagious!

Delirium
Author:  Lauren Oliver
Published: 2011 (on sale date 2/1/11)
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
Pages: 448
ISBN 9780061726828
Genre/Classification:  Teen Fiction ages 14 and up
Source:  Borrowed ARC

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing.

They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. 

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.  (from the author's website http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/delirium.php)

My Review:  

"The most dangerous sicknesses are those that make us believe we are well." - Proverb42, The Book of Shhh

Delirium is set in future day USA (Portland) where scientists have discovered a cure for the terrible disease...amor deliria nervosa...love.  Sixty-four years previous, love was identified as a disease.  Twenty-one years later, scientists have a cure!  Sure it requires a surgery involving a laser and the patient's brain, but everyone has the procedure at or slightly before their eighteenth birthday.  Everyone looks forward to it!  The government has effectively brain-washed the population into believing that love is an awful contagious disease that must be eradicated.  Cities are patrolled and electric fences run their perimeters, in the effort to keep out The Wild, the Invalids, those who don't believe and are not treated.  It is in this society that Magdalena (Lena) has grown up. It is graduation year.  She will be evaluated and receive the procedure.  She will be paired up with her future husband.  Her life is mapped out for her.  That is, until the disease strikes.

New trade paperback cover

I loved this book!  I know, my readers know I don't read much Young Adult Fiction but this one is definitely worth every second of your time!!  I was mesmerized as I read of this society, captivated by the story, drawn into Lena's life.  I laughed. I cried. I cheered.  Not necessarily in that order.  

Do I recommend it?  Wholeheartedly!!  Am I following author Lauren Oliver's blog?  You bet!!!  Am I anxious and excited for the second book in the series?  That is an automatic and enthusiastic yes!!

Delirium is contagious!

Pandemonium, book 2, will be available February 2012!

Requiem, book 3, will be available Spring 2013!

Cover Reveal: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/pandemonium.php

On sale February 28, 2012!