On Loss: A Review of Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium was the first book that I reviewed this year, and it's what I would call a thinking book. I'm so always thrilled to see thinking books in the YA genre, books that treat their audience like mature, intelligent people. Naturally, I was excited to see if the sequel, Pandemonium, could accomplish the same thing.

In this book, Lena is on her own. Alex is lost to her, so now she has to make a new life and find a new purpose for herself in the Wilds. The story is divided into two parts, "Then" (her time in the wilds), and "Now" (her work in the resistance), alternating each chapter. In the Wilds, she meets Raven, the leader of a homestead, along with quite a few other Invalids. Lena has to rediscover a will to survive, and goes through the physical and emotional hardships of living on next to nothing. In the resistance, it becomes her job to keep track of Julian Fineman, the youth leader of the DFA, the most extreme of pro-cure organizations. Julian is getting ready to undergo the cure despite a medical history that means the cure will likely kill him

Positive Comments

In my review of the first book I talked about how Lena was a blank slate, somewhat bland kind of character. The author was more concerned with developing the ideas than developing the characters. In this book, however, character development is front and center. I loved Lena's journey. I loved seeing her on her own, separated from everything familiar, changing and growing stronger along the way. This book made me like a character that I previously found forgettable. That's a big accomplishment.

I loved the culture of the people in the Wilds. The spirit of hard work and endurance and finding pleasure in little things is appealing in a dystopian novel.

I liked the newly introduced characters. I loved Raven and Tack, and I felt they made great friends and mentors for Lena in her new life. I may be in the minority here, but I also really liked Julian. I found him sympathetic, and I really wanted to see him saved and brought around to the side of the resistance.

Critical Comments

I don't normally do this, but I feel like I have to. My only criticism is a spoiler so, I'm going to spoil. Ready?

Begin Spoiler

.

.

.

.

.

.

Throughout the book Lena believes Alex to be dead and that she has to move on with her life. And if I'm being honest, I wish that's how the author had written it. The book has all of this great commentary on grief and loss and rediscovering yourself and finding love again. For Lena that means loving Julian. But throughout the book I had this lingering uneasy feeling. As they say in the comic book world--if no one saw a body, don't consider that character dead. And of course I was right. Of course Alex isn't dead. So what do we get instead of a poignant loss/grief/recovery story? A FREAKING LOVE TRIANGLE. I cannot possibly articulate how desperate I am to not see any more YA love triangles.

So anyway, the ending has this big, soap opera style "That character you thought was dead is alive!" reveal, and it's extremely cheap and cliffhangery. This is the only flaw I can name for the whole book, but it's a big flaw.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

End Spoiler

Recommendation

I feel even more confident in recommending this series after reading this book. It's a well crafted, intelligent, gripping YA novel. And no Middle Book Syndrome! 4 stars.