Review: Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver

Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver

 

I’m having a bit of difficulty thinking about how I want to write this review.  The end of the book is of course the most important part, discussing that, which I really want to do, would spoil the whole thing.

First things first: if you haven’t read any of these books go away.  No seriously, if you have any plans to read this series, I’m going to spoil the heck out of books 1 & 2.  If you don’t mind being spoiled, please join me.

Let’s start by talking about book one, Delirium.  I actually thought it was really well done. I didn’t love it as much as Before I Fall, but I was willing to keep going with the series. The ending had me at the edge of my seat, and I couldn’t wait for book 2.

I really enjoyed Pandemonium, book 2 and I liked getting to know Lena as she had to change to accommodate her new life. Although I really liked Alex, Julian kind of grew on me and I learned to appreciate him. When Pandemonium ended I was kind of annoyed, and didn’t understand why there needed to be an actual love triangle introduced into the story at all. Alex was always part of the story even when he wasn’t in the story. The triangle already existed without bringing Alex back from the dead in order to further complicate things. Even with the end, I thought the book was well done and I was looking forward to final installment.

Now we’re at book 3, Requiem. I received this ARC in January, and held off reading it because I’m really bad about finishing series.  But I just had to find out how it ended.  

 

I want to start by saying some positive things. 

• I really thought that both Lena and Hanna’s characters were really well written, I left this series really feeling like I knew them. I didn’t read Hanna’s short story, and even without it, I thought she was really fleshed out.  I actually like all the characters.  I wish I knew more about some of them, but they’re all really likable.
• I like the world building that happens in Requiem, and in the series. It’s a really interesting concept. 
• I like the pacing. I read the vast majority of this in one day, and it flew by.

What I didn’t like.

• Everything else. Seriously. And it wasn’t that I didn’t like it, I HATED it. I finished the book and I was actually enraged by the ending. If the ending had been better I might have given it a meh, but the ending was so infuriating that it made me hate the book.
• Nothing happened in this book. I didn’t see much character growth, they’re still walking, they’re still fighting, and they’re still just moving from place to place. 
• The triangle that never should have been was one of the worst parts of this book. I know there are a lot of mixed feelings about love triangles in books but I don’t really a have an opinion on them either way.  I’ve read some that I thought were really well done, and others that were horrible. This one definitely falls into the horrible category. It was utterly and completely pointless. It didn’t add anything to the story and didn’t add to any kind of character growth for anybody. It was ultimately a waste of time. Do you know what would have made a better story? Killing Alex for real in the last book. If he had died in the Crypts or been killed when he was captured it would have made for a better story. While Pandemonium focuses on Lena getting over Alex and becoming independent, Requiem would have been better with her really coming to terms with it and finding a different type of love with Julian. The way this one was handled was a complete and utter cop-out.
• I won’t even get into how the story ends. Let’s just say it was really poorly done.  I’ve read other books that had similar endings, and were really well done.  This was just crap.
• And finally I must discuss the very last few paragraphs. Did the author really have the audacity to tell me how I should feel about the story and what lessons I should have learned?  Oh yes. Thank you Ms. Oliver, but I’m pretty sure I’m a big girl and don’t need a lecture on how I’m supposed to feel, what I was supposed to learn from these books, or how I’m supposed to live my life.

“Awe, Hell NO!”—Direct quote from me when the book ended.

2 footballs out of 5