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Delirium

Delirium

DystopianRomance
Pages
480
Published
2011
Language
English

Synopsis

In a future where love is a disease and conformity is mandatory, Lena Haloway is counting down the days until her mandatory 'cure.' She's always believed in the system, especially after seeing how love affected her mother. But when she meets Alex, a boy living outside the rules, her carefully constructed world begins to crumble. Can she choose between a safe, predictable life and the dangerous possibility of falling in love?

Prose complexity
4/10

Vibe

DarkTenseRomanticThought-Provoking
Forbidden LoveComing of AgeReluctant Hero

Genres

Dystopian Romance Science Fiction Young Adult

About the author

L
Lauren Oliver

Lauren Oliver (born Laura Suzanne Schechter, November 8, 1982) is an American author of young adult and adult fiction. Raised in Westchester, New York, she studied philosophy and literature at the University of Chicago and earned an MFA from New York University, then worked as an editor at Razorbill before becoming a full-time writer in 2009. She is best known for the New York Times bestseller Before I Fall and the dystopian Delirium trilogy (Delirium, Pandemonium, Requiem), as well as Panic, Va...

Characters

Lena HalowayProtagonist
Alex SheathesSupporting

A boy raised in the Wilds outside Portland's fence who reveals to Lena that he was never cured, and whose relationship with her drives the novel's central rebellion.

Hana TateSupporting

Lena's best friend since childhood, whose own growing skepticism of the cured society parallels Lena's awakening.

All characters in Delirium

Frequently asked questions

  • What inspired the concept of love being treated as a disease?

    Author Lauren Oliver was inspired to write the book during a period of intense public anxiety surrounding a swine flu epidemic [1.1.2]. She noticed how quickly fear of contagion could drive collective panic, which led her to realize that the physical and psychological symptoms of falling in love closely mirror those of psychiatric and physical illnesses.

  • Is there a movie or television adaptation of the book?

    A television pilot starring Emma Roberts as Lena Haloway was filmed for Fox in 2013, but the network ultimately decided not to pick up the project for a full series. Though it never aired on television, the completed pilot was made available to stream on Hulu for a limited time in 2014.

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