Another two weeks, another two books!
“This exciting finale to Lauren Oliver’s New York Times bestselling Delirium trilogy is a riveting blend of nonstop action and forbidden romance in a dystopian United States. Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has transformed. The nascent rebellion that was underway in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight. After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven. Pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels. As Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain of the Wilds, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena and Hana’s points of view. They live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge. With lyrical writing, Lauren Oliver seamlessly interweaves the peril that Lena faces with the inner tumult she experiences after the reappearance of her first love, Alex, the boy she thought was dead. Sophisticated and wide-ranging, Requiem brings the Delirium trilogy to a thrilling conclusion.” It was somewhat surprising to me that this book focused on Lena and Hana as opposed to say Lena and Alex or even Lena and Julian. The uprising by the rebels is supposed to be a fight to allow love, as the government thinks love is a disease. If this is the case, you would think there would be more focus on the love story or stories in the books. I found myself a little confused about the conclusion of this trilogy and was not sure I was satisfied with the ending. I almost liked the cliffhanger at the end of book two better than this so called conclusion! Hana’s story throughout the book actually interested me more than Lena’s did. I also enjoyed the conclusion regarding Lena and Hana’s friendship, though much was left open ended, as it was with the future of what will happen the people in the book.
After Requiem, I no longer had any “must reads” around or on hold at the library, so I returned to my bookshelf and found The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart. “When Cameron was fifteen, she and Sonia were best friends—so close it seemed nothing would ever come between them. Now Cameron is a twenty-nine-year-old research assistant with no meaningful ties to anyone except her aging boss, noted historian Oliver Doucet. Nearly a decade after the incident that ended their friendship, Cameron receives an unexpected letter from her old friend. Despite Oliver’s urging, she doesn’t reply. But when he passes away, Cameron discovers that he has left her with one final task: to track down Sonia and hand-deliver a mysterious package to her. The Myth of You and Me captures the intensity of a friendship as well as the real sense of loss that lingers after the end of one. Searingly honest and beautiful, it is a celebration and portrait of a friendship that will appeal to anyone who still feels the absence of that first true friend.” I was pleasantly surprised that I liked this book as much as I did. The task left by Oliver to deliver a package to Sonia leads Cameron through her memories and allows her to revisit what happened in her young adulthood, leading her to her life currently. Through her memories, Cameron is able to come to terms with both who her friend Sonia was and is and to realize who she herself was and is. Although the end of their friendship was due to something Sonia did to Cameron, Cameron is forced to realize that what she in turn did to Sonia was awful as well. I loved how Cameron also reunited with a person from both her and Sonia’s past and realized that moments in her life also meant something to someone else. At the end of my copy of this book, there were reader stories about strong female friendships that had ended for one reason or another. I found it very interesting that so many lives are shaped by stories such as these. In my own case, I haven’t had a “best friend” in my life since 7th grade, when my best friend became my worst enemy. This incident shaped my life and had a definite effect on my friendships and relationships from then on. Although the friendship between Cameron and Sonia ended completely differently than mine did, ultimately it seems that the story of a lost friendship and its effects is relatable for many.
I’m almost out of books on the shelf waiting to be read! I need some recommendations of books that would be easy to find at the library – none of the ones that are hard to get and require a long wait! Thanks!