Delirium and Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

What would happen if we could not feel love? Would there still be hate if there was no love? Would we be able to know happiness if there was no love? These are the tantalizing questions posed in these two dystopian YA books by Lauren Oliver, Delirium and Pandemonium.

In Delirium, Lena is approaching her 18th birthday, the day when she can receive "the cure" that is mandated by the government as necessary. It is a vaccination against a type of killing illness they call the "deliria nervosa" which in essence, is love. Love has been deemed the root of all evil and conflict, as it is apparent that the U.S. has experienced a devastating war (although this is not talked about in the book.) The theory is that if people cannot feel love, then they will also not feel any kind of passion at all, and so conflicts such as wars will be a thing of the past. Lena is all for the cure. She wants to protect herself from this infection - that is until she meets a boy named Alex. At first she thinks that Alex is "cured" and so poses no danger to her. But the more she gets to know him, the more she finds out about his past and his goals for the future. The question then is, will Lena risk everything in her life - security, family, friends - in order to experience love? Pandemonium continues the saga and leaves you with a shocker for an ending.

I could not stop reading this compelling story, one book right after the other. There is just something about this dystopian trend in YA right now. And I'm loving it. Now, tell me what you think!