Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

There are a bunch of reasons that could have warranted 4 stars on this book. Oliver's writing is beautiful. It's a really interactive read with a lot of emotion and action - much more, I think than Delirium (Book 1). I think that if this story were a Book 1 or if I'd skipped right to this one I wouldn't have just "liked it." 

Unfortunately, it is a Book 2 and I didn't skip the first book.

There were a lot of things that bothered me about Pandemonium. 

I've heard a few people complain about the "now" and "then" of the book. This, if I'm being honest, did really bug me at first. I wanted to shoot through all of the thens to get back to the nows. I found myself scanning the pages at one point to get the gist of what was going on and continue with the story. However, it must have been a more seamless transition than I'd thought reading it, because I can't recall when it stopped. For those of you just picking this one up, it does stop. 

While the new characters introduced in Pandemonium added some richness to the story, I REALLY missed Hana and Alex. I felt as though I had invested too much of my time in Delirium to them for them to be removed from the story line for this ENTIRE book. 

Also, since I was so obsessed with Alex, I had a really difficult time connecting with Julian in this book. He came off as sort of bratty and helpless in so much of it. The connection built between he and Lena felt similar to that of Katniss and Peeta (terrible things happen to them that bring them together). However, unlike Peeta (total love of my life) it isn't until the end of the book that I feel like Julian is swoonworthy in the least - definitely not when the last guy you kissed was a major winner. 

Like Delirium, Pandemonium ends with this crazy cliffhanger. I hope that Book 3 can put some of my crazy disapointment at ease! 

While this review is a total emotional rant about all of the things that make me want to throw things while reading it, the book was very well-written. It's (almost)always a good sign when an author can make you want to damage your own property in a fit of rage. I'll definitely be counting down the days to see what comes next!