Book Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

*Book received from Around the World Tours for review**

Synopsis (from Goodreads):  

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
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.

My Thoughts:  I loved how different this book was from the first book in the series, Delirium!  It was completely unexpected and completely opposite of the first book!

Lena is in the Wilds all by herself.  Alex is gone and Lena has no idea what happened to him.  Well, she may have an idea but she doesn't want to think about it.  She is hurt and struggling in the cruel outside world until Raven finds her and takes her to the Homestead.  There Lena gets well and meets other Invalids.  There, Lena becomes part of the resistance. 

Lena is much harder in this book.  She is angry too.  Angry at her mom, angry at Alex, angry at the Regulators.  This makes her a much more interesting character.  I really connected with her in this book instead of the weak and wimpy Lena of the last book. 

Lena is told she must watch Julian Fineman, the son of the DFA leader, Thomas Fineman.  Julian hasn't had the cure yet due to an illness but is going to do it at the upcoming rally.  Lena is told to watch him during the rally no matter what and she does.  However, this leads to her kidnapping.

Throughout the book we are with Lena and Julian as they are first held hostage by the Scavengers, then escape and flee through the tunnels and finally towards the end where I won't say anything else to avoid spoilers.  Through the book, their relationship grows and while Lena doesn't forget Alex, she comes to have feelings for Julian. 

The book takes you back and forth from the present to "then" when Lena is with Raven and the group.  "Then" consists of their time at the first homestead and then their trek to the next homestead.  It leaves a lot left unanswered though like how do Lena, Raven and Tack get back into New York and infiltrate the Regulator's world.  However, I am hoping maybe that the third (and last) book will go into this a little more. 

I thought Pandemonium had a lot more action that Delirium.  It was more on edge and suspensful.  I read the last 200 pages in one day because I simply couldn't put it down.  I loved the relationship between Lena and Raven and Lena and Julian.  Their characters were all well-developed and I could connect to each one of them.

The ending leaves you screaming for more!  I won't divulge what happens but as soon as Book 3 is out, I am reading it to find out how Lena is going to get herself out of this mess!