Requiem by Lauren Oliver Review (Spoiler Alert!)

Title: Requiem
Author: Lauren Oliver
Age Group: Teen/Young Adult
Series: Delirium, book three
Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
The bottom line: The last book in the Delirium series, Requiem is full of surprises, told in the same lush, beautiful prose of Lauren Oliver, with a satisfying, simple ending. It's worth checking out.

I loved Requiem. I got it as an advance readers' copy here on Goodreads fortunately. It had a wonderful ending, bittersweet and beautiful. Lauren Oliver's writing is still beautiful and lush, the prose flowing on the pages like water, smooth and sweet, this time spanning between Lena and her former best friend, Hana.

Requiem begins where Pandemonium left off, Lena still in the Wilds with Julian and the other resistance fighters. Alex has also returned to the trilogy, miraculously alive after months of not turning up, bitter and angry that Lena has moved on to Julian, despite her thinking that Alex had been murdered by government regulators (soldiers). Lena is left reeling at his sudden appearance, as well as Alex's slow, cold retreat from her. Despite loving Julian, feelings for Alex and their memories together begin to resurface, causing her pain and guilt, especially when it seems Alex, too, has moved on, to a young new ingenue named Coral. Struggling with her jealousy,Lena tries to swallow it and move on, trying to do her work with the resistance and make her friends safe, all the while trying to navigate her still newly minted relationship with Julian.

Meanwhile, back in Portland, Hana has been cured, preparing for her wedding to Fred Hargrove, her pairing. Despite the supposed perfection her life offers, Hana is terrified as new feelings begin to surface, the past rearing its ugly head--she thinks of Lena, of her old life, of how she made previous steps to try to resist the norm, to be her own person, and she realizes with regret, sadness and surprise that it was in fact Lena who fought to be herself, and even ran away from Portland to fight for the cause. Hana begins to see a different, more frightening side of her fiance, reminding me of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde--just as likely to kill as he is to shake your hand. (She also finds information on Fred's first wife, Mealana, who is in jail because Fred tried to kill her and then convinced everyone they knew she was psychotic.) Slowly, the book goes back and forth between Lena and Hana, and eventually the two girls meet--Lena is let go by Hana, and Hana admits to turning Lena and Alex in to the government, and then she leaves Fred to die in the bomb in his house, walking toward a new beginning and a new life. Lena and Alex finally admit that they love one another, and the book ends at the perfect spot for me: The townspeople tearing down the wall separating them all--with a few surprises regarding Lena's family as well. I loved it. Thank you, Miss Oliver, and thank you, Goodreads!