Review: Requiem

Tags

dystopian, post-apocalyptic, romance, YA, YA series

Author: Lauren Oliver | Website | Blog|
Publication Date: March 5th, 2013 |
Publisher: Harper Collins
My Interest: Post-Apocalyptic Obsession|
Source: Library
Age Group | Genre: YA| Dystopian, Romance
Series: Yes, Delirium trilogy|
Pages: 391

I have a love-hate relationship with the last book in a trilogy.
On one hand,  I am extremenely excited and anxious to read it and to find out what happens in this world–how it wraps up, if all my questions are answered, etc. But then on the other side, I dread finding out what happens because what if the world doesn’t turn out like I hope it will? Requiem was one of those books where I just didn’t know how to feel from page-to-page.
And when I turned to the last one… my hopes were simply dashed.

I checked out a copy from my local library. I was not compensated in any way for my words (cross my heart) nor did I promise a good rating. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine.

Summary

Lena has once again escaped to the Wilds after rescuing Julian from a death sentence. But what she didn’t count on was falling in love all over again. With him. Or with Alex.

As the Resistance grows, so do the Regulators’ hold on the Wilds, and the borderlands are no longer a safe place to hide. The final installment is told from both Lena and her best friend Hana’s point of view. Through both girls, readers see what happens when one fights for love–and against it.

Review

My heart was so torn while immersed in the world of Requiem. When I first picked up the series, I wasn’t sure if I liked the premise of the story. But after a few chapters, Oliver’s writing pulled me into this dystopic world.
I was hooked. Love as a disease? Eradicating the emotion? CRAZY!

Then book two happened, and I felt it contracted the whole second book syndrome, so I was back to feeling eh about the series. But then there was Requiem. I hyped myself up about the book, mostly because the rest of the blog world was hyped up about it. And even though it hasn’t been my favorite dystopic series, it’s definitely one I enjoy.

Then bam! I was getting close to the end of the story and I thought for sure there were enough pages to wrap up and give me full closure. That’s when I realized that all of the pages I had left were an included short story from Alex’s point of view, and in fact, the story had just ended.

You guys! I was SO MAD at this ending of this trilogy, and even though I read it weeks ago, I still don’t know how to sum up my thoughts. Sure, I felt like the plot picked up tremendously, and I loved getting into the story from both Lena’s and Hana’s perspectives. In fact, I thought it was quite genius of Oliver to present the story from both POV’s, to show both sides of the dystopic premise–and in fact, I really began to like Hana again. Even after what she did.

But the ending just happened. I felt as if it was really rushed, and even though the story was wrapped up in a way, it did not feel wrapped up at all to me. I felt as if it were left way too open ended. And those last few paragraphs! Ok, 1. They truly were beautiful writing by Oliver, but 2. I felt as if they were just a cop out. From a writing perspective, they took me out of the story completely, and they sort of just ruined the atmosphere of the trilogy for me. If a story is going to end with a completely different POV/narrator shift, then it needs to be in a epilogue or something. I hated being pulled out of the story when I’m already hyperventilating about this book world ending for me.

I mean, overall, I enjoyed the story and the trilogy itself ended up being one I really like. But the way the whole world just ended was harsh. Perhaps I need to go back and read the short stories from the other character’s perspectives (because I did skip those) to get a better grasp on the trilogy? As a reader though, I can honestly say I loved Oliver’s writing and her story was simply fascinating. But when left alone with Requiem, I fell into the bookish problem where, as I was turning the last page, the world around me crumpled and shattered, leaving me with nothing left to grasp and questions I needed answered.

If you like this novel, you might like….

Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Divergent Trilogy)

  

Sever by Lauren DeStefano (The Chemical Gardens Trilogy)

Or if you enjoy: The Hunger Games, dystopian genre, The Giver, post-apocalyptic novels, tough heroines, Lauren Oliver’s writing style

Final Thoughts

Book Talk: Have you read Requiem yet? (Probably…why would you have waited so long like me!) What did you think of the ending? Was it what you wanted?

Hopeful reading!