Pandemonium Review

Author: Lauren Oliver
Release date: February 28, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 375
How I got it: For review from publisher
Other titles in series: Delirium 

I'm pushing aside the memory of my nightmare
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.

Even though I had mixed feelings about Delirium, I devoured Pandemonium in just a few days.

The biggest change between Delirium and Pandemonium would for sure be Lena. If you remember, I found her to be bland and kinda whiny in book one, but she's grown up so much between the two novels it's insane. Now she's one of those people I wouldn't want to cross, which makes her AWESOME to read about. Unfortunately, I never connected with Julian the way I did with New Lena.

I also found the plot in Pandemonium to be much more exciting than I did Delirium. While the first book dragged, I found myself completely absorbed in Pandemonium the entire time. Probably because it felt like there was ALWAYS something going on.

Basically, Pandemonium was suspenseful, action-packed, and a book you can easily become involved in. While the world-building still lacks a little something to make this world terrifyingly real, I was able to look past that and enjoy the novel for what it was. I was pleasently surprised.

Plot: Fast paced and full of suspense.

Characters: Lena kicked some major booteh...which made up for Julian's blandness.

Writing: Gorgeous, as always.

Ending: WHAT.

Kid friendly? There's some language.

Overall:

I had a hard time tearing my eyes away from the page.

Though it's what I'd call "dystopian fluff," I still found myself wrapped up in this story. If you didn't love Delirium, maybe try this one because it was completely different.