Goodreads Rating: 4.05
My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Pages: 441
I picked up this book because my mom brought home the second book to this trilogy. I got this one from the library and those of you who follow my side pages, you'll notice this has been on my currently reading page for quite some time. Since this book is about a Cure for Love, I figured no better time to post this than on Valentines Day.
Synopses from Goodreads.com:
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.
My review after the jump!
I keep asking myself why I gave this book three stars when this book was almost completely a set up book. By that I mean that the book set the stage for the rest of the trilogy, and there is nothing wrong with that. It was a very quick read, very easy to get through, and the concept was a very interesting one. The idea that Love is a disease and that we need a cure for it, I really liked that.
This new dystopian genre, inspired by The Hunger Games and Uglies, and other books, seem to be here to stay. With so many of these books popping up its hard not to see similarities or even come up with a totally new idea, which I think Oliver was able to do. One thing all of these books have in common is a government that has over stepped their bounds and lies to their people and those people accept that lie. In this case it's that Love will kill you and that its a bad thing and instead they offer a cure, they don't explain exactly how they do it, but it seems like a good old fashion Lobotomy for those aged 18 and up.
I remember getting to page 200 and thinking "Well, I'm halfway through and nothing has happened"And in most books that would have bothered me but I understand that there is the need to set the stage. At the start of each chapter, we were given a glimpse into the beliefs of this society. The "Elemental Prayers" and children's rhymes, which really had nothing to do with what was going on but were fun to hear about all the same.
I went from 4 down to 3 stars because I couldn't really come up with a good reason for why I should give it more stars. I guess because I liked the idea or someone fighting everything they ever knew for love, and not just a relationship but for the right to love. It was also easy to see how they twisted love into a disease- one that cause all types of infections and reactions.
I really liked Alex, the Invalid boy from the Wilds who opens up to Lena. I don't know how I felt about Lena- I can understand her transformation from a girl who was excited to be cured to realizing that the cure was almost like a jail sentence. And then there was Hana who was completely uncommitted to the cause (who also has a novella coming out on February 14 -maybe Free- on MTV.com).
Overall this book didn't get my heart racing, but I did like the book in the end even if it feels like it went nowhere. Since I've read this first book, I'm now invested in the series and I plan on reading the second book, Pandemonium, but I'm not sure when that will be.
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