Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Requiem (Delirium book 3) by Lauren Oliver

Lauren Oliver's best work still continues to be Before I Fall.
Requiem is book 3 in the trilogy, Delirium was book 1 and Pandemonium was book 2.

In book 3 the story is told in a back and forth between where Lena is and what she is going through and where Hana is and what she is going through. The voices are distinct enough that this easily botched story telling method works here.

The story of the invalids, those not cured of emotions, of the disease of love, and the fight they face to be free and not have to live outside society works as well.

The love triangle between Lena, Julian and Alex works too. You feel like there is no easy solution but no bad guy so it is an emotional gut punch to follow their story.

What doesn't work for me is the ending. It is the last book in a trilogy and when I read a trilogy I expect things to be wrapped up. I don't expect a clean, perfect or happy ending, but I have come to expect and ending. What happened here felt like there were pages missing. A major story isn't closed, there isn't a resolution on a couple of issues. The story jumps to a little speech about tearing down walls, which would have felt like a wonderful note to end on had it not felt like an abrupt jerk away from wrapping up the story of characters followed for three books. This doesn't negate the fact that I found it a good, not great but definitely good, addition the sub-genre of YA books that includes Hunger Games and Uglies, about the balance of freedoms and government control of people "for their own good".

(finished March 10, 2013)