But we are still here.
And there are more of us every day.
Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.
After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.
Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.
Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.
But we have chosen a different road.
And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.
We are even free to choose the wrong thing.
Firstly, I want to say that while I'm not a huge fan of the Delirium series, I have enjoyed all three books and will be putting up my reviews for the first two later. But I've just recently finished reading the third (and final) book, so here it is.
Unfortunately for us, Requiem begins not exactly where Pandemonium ended. Lena and the rest of the resistance group are on the move, traveling north. The reunion between Alex and Lena isn't exactly a happy one, and she's stuck in an awkward limbo between Alex and Julian, not quite on stable ground with either of them. We don't get to see the initial exchange between Alex and Lena, which is kind of a disappointment, especially since it was such a HUGE cliffhanger at the end of the previous book.
Requiem, on paper, is more action packed than the past two books combined, with tons of secret missions and attacks and running from the regulators. And yet for me, it moved kind of slowly, which was a bummer. A lot of the book felt very political to me...lots of planning the best way to undermine the government, planning attacks, planning the next course of action. I mean, don't get me wrong, the action scenes were wonderfully written and quite exciting! But in between that, I found myself quickly reading through the boring bits to get to the next action part.
SPOILERS AHEAD, DON'T READ ON IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED!
As for the characters, my views on them are a bit unconventional, but I will say that I was satisfied with the ending. In the first book, I think I was one of the few people who didn't fall head over heels for Alex. Of course, I wasn't a huge fan of the book as a whole, but something about their connection didn't feel right to me and I never really connected with him (or Delirium). But I read on, and ended up being really glad I did. I absolutely loved Julian, as well as the entirety of the second book. However, this isn't my first rodeo with YA literature, so of course Alex and Lena would end up together at the end, and true to my prediction, they do. Alex's character grew on me a bit more in this book, and I found myself rooting for them, even through all of the obstacles that were thrown their way (Alex's new love interest, their emotional baggage, as well as the various external resistance conflicts). So yes, even though I was a Julian fan, I was happy with the way things ended between the two of them, though it was all a bit too vague for my taste.
I'm kind of conflicted on my feelings toward Lena in this book. There were several parts where I wanted to smack her upside the head, and tell her to quit crying! BUT, in her defense, she has been through hell and back. Since the first book, she's come a long way, and ultimately I was happy with the changed person she becomes. She's stronger (both physically and mentally), and it was wonderful to watch that change take place over the last three books.
I also found myself liking Hana a lot more in this book as well. It was fascinating watching her cured shell crack bit by bit, and to get to see the very damaged girl inside. I almost found myself connecting more with Hana than I did with Lena. I was so, so happy with the way things ended between the two girls, despite the jealousy and the betrayal. It was a realistic ending for the two of them...obviously their reunion isn't going to be one with hugs and tears and declarations of being friends forever, so the way things finished with them was refreshing.
All in all, I did enjoy Requiem and I thought it was a decent (though somewhat vague) ending to what was an enjoyable series. I can't say I enjoyed it nearly as much as I did Pandemonium but it was a good run, and I thank Ms. Oliver for the journey!
Pages: 391
Publisher: HarperCollin's Children's Books
Date of Publication: March 5, 2013
Rating:
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