In recent posts I've complained about the fact that the romance aspect of some of the recent teen novels I'd read had become overplayed. This is particularly true in sequels, where each book seems to get more and more focused on the characters' relationships and less on the societal constructs established in the early books. I'm a long way from being the target audience of these books, but I can't help wondering why this happens. If the teen readers liked the early books enough to continue with the series, didn't this indicate that they, too, were fond of the actual premise of the book? Why sideline the exploration of dystopic societies and ethical problem solving in favor of rated-PG kissing?
I can't really complain about the trend with this sequel, as I was forewarned by the very subject matter of the first. In fact, while getting ready to write this review, I went back and read my discussion of Delirium, the book before Pandemonium, and had to laugh at this observation: "This
one leaned a bit too far toward the romance end of things for my taste; I
can tolerate the romance as long as the world developed behind it is
interesting and compelling. In this book, however, the romance is
center stage." Over the course of the review, though, I explored a few things I really liked about the book, and I suppose that's what I responded to when I saw it available at my local bookstore. Fortunately, in this book, Lena is on her own for the first half--which flashes back and forth between her life in the Wilds, beyond the fenced-off community of the standard society, and her reintegration into that society as a secret rebel. She may be pining for her lost love, but at least she is taking action and becoming a strong person as well. And, by the time the new boy comes into the picture, there's been time for Lena to explore the novelty of a society that allows self-expression and emotion and to see how the lack thereof is affecting the regime inside the walls.
I'm really hoping that Oliver's next book in the series (The ending of Pandemonium implies that there most certainly will be one.) continues in this direction. For now I'm trying to decide what the next book's title will be, seeing as it should really end with an -ium suffix.
It's probably not fair to this book that I (temporarily, I'm guessing) reached my fill of teen dystopian romances midway through reading it. It's a genre I generally like, but this one leaned a bit too far toward the romance end of things for my taste; I can tolerate the romance as long as the world developed behind it is interesting and compelling. In this book, however, the romance is center stage.
Why this took me by surprise, I don't know, as it's basically stated on the jacket cover. After all, 17-year-old Lena lives in a world where love is considered a life-threatening disease, where 60+ years earlier scientists came up with a surgical "cure" to relieve people of its symptoms. The surgery to prevent delirium takes place at age 18, though, and any reader of TeenLit knows what will happen in those circumstances--especially after learning that Lena's mother's cure just never took, even after three attempts, and she ended up committing suicide when Lena was a child. And then she meets a boy from the wilds: the areas outside the highly policed and controlled cities, where people don't get the cure and still choose their own mates, ways of life, etc.
Despite my lack of enthusiasm for Delirium, I must admit I'll likely read the sequel; writing about it now makes me consider some of the story elements and concepts I did like, such as making me reflect in how quickly a culture can be changed due to revolution/technology/chaos. I think I just read myself into a genre rut here and need a bit of a break.
(By the way, if you were wondering what is so special about the Special Edition: there's a Q & A section and the first chapter of the sequel. I actually chose it because I liked the cover better.)
