This story is set in Portland, Maine in an alternate present. In this society, love is seen as a disease, amor deliria nervosa, commonly referred to as the delirium. When each citizen turns 18, they are given the surgical cure for delirium. Lena has forever waited for the day when she would receive the cure, and get the perfect, simple, and predictable life that is expected for her. She will be matched with a husband and will have kids just like every other family. Lena does not know what to do when her best friend Hana begins to act out and starts talking about love. Forced to accompany Hana on one of her wild escapades, she meets Alex, an Invalid (a person over 18 that has not yet received the cure) who lives in the Wilds outside of the city borders to avoid the officials. Before long, Lena falls in love. As much as she does not want to let go of her love with Alex, there is not much time left before she must receive the surgical procedure that she had once looked forward to and now dreads. Everyone tells her that experiencing deliria before the procedure is normal, but Lena refuses to accept the fact that she has to give up her love for Alex. For Lena, avoiding the procedure is inevitable until she and Alex plan to escape the city and run to the Wilds. Barely escaping from her house alive, she and Alex flee to the Wilds. Attempting to break past the city borders, Alex allows himself to be captured and shot on the spot to save Lena. She runs off into the Wilds, not wanting Alex's sacrifice to be in vain. This book was extremely good! I recommend this book to both boys and girls of a higher reading level. The other books in this trilogy are also very good. I couldn't bring myself to put this book down until I had finished the very last page. Check it out!
Maya M.I love to dance and read. Math is my favorite subject. For high school, I want to go to Northside Prep. Archives
May 2012
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