Book Review- Delirium

I just finished reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver for an Around the World Tour.

From Goodreads:

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -the deliria- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.
 
Back when I read Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, everyone was raving about it.  And while I liked it, I didn't think it was as great as everyone was claiming.  So when I read about Delirium, I didn't get my hopes up.  But boy was I surprised!  This book was way better than Before I Fall! 
 
Right off the bat, I was engrossed in the story.  A world without love?  I can't even imagine having to live and not being able to feel things.  I really can't fathom it.  I am a very emotional person, so the idea of being "cured" of the "disease" is astonishing to me!  But the way the community was written made it feel so real.  Very scary! ( I loved the quotes that were at the beginning of each chapter--they were from "real" books talking about the disease.)

I quickly grew to love Lena.  She tried so hard to be good and follow the rules, yet she knew something was wrong and she followed her *gasp* heart.  And I loved Alex too!  What a sweet guy!
 
There are several surprises in this story.  I have to say that I personally didn't like the ending.  But that doesn't stop it from being an amazing story.  The ending is good and it fits, its just not what I thought was going to happen.  **SPOILER--highlight to read**  I read about Alex getting shot and caught and all I could think was "NO, NO, NO" over and over again!  It's been awhile since I have felt that strongly about a book and thought about it so much afterwards.  This was almost a 5 rating..so close (and I'll be giving it a 5 on Goodreads, Shelfari, and Amazon)!  But so far this is my favorite book of the year!
 
I gave this book a rating of 4.5/5.
 
Delirium will be released on February 11, 2011.
 
This book fulfilled an item in the following challenge:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 107
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 77
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 74
 
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.