Lena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love and leads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday and her treatment, when she falls in love.
This is a much different take on dystopia than that to which I am accustomed. It is about a person more than a government, and the point of view leaves you floating instead of fighting, crying instead of cursing. The main character, Lena, is just as confused and excited as any teen falling in love for the first time, but there are no googly eyes and despite the fact that love is the basis of the book, her love story doesn't want to make you vomit.
Oliver does something that I find refreshing - she focuses on different kinds of love. We fall too quickly in the assumption of romantic love, but there is the love between friends and the love in families as well, and they are all equally important. All of it is considered a disease.
At the end of the book, the story is only just beginning. I don't love Lena, although I liked her "one true love," but the idea and possibilities are enough to keep me reading more.
Color me intrigued.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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27 June, 2014:
Finished reading
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27 June, 2014:
Reviewed