Pandemonium

By: Lauren Oliver

Narrated by: Sarah Drew

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

I'm pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, pushing aside thoughts of Alex, pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school, push, push, push, like Raven taught me to do. The old life is dead. But the old Lena is dead too. I buried her. I left her beyond a fence, behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times best seller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

©2012 Laura Schechter (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

Can't Wait for the Next Book!

Pandemonium had a completely different feel than Delirium, the first book in the series. The story, all told from Lena’s perspective, alternates between different times. This was a little jarring to me in the beginning but I eventually got the hang of it. That aside, I loved it. Couldn’t put it down. Ate it up with a spoon. It Leaves you on a total cliffhanger too. The kind that makes you scream, “WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER YEAR FOR THE NEXT ONE?! AHH!” So. Good.

Contrary to Delirium, Lena is a little more rough around the edges in Pandemonium. After escaping from the police in Delirium, she is now on the run and fighting for her survival in the ‘wilds,’ as it’s called in the series. On top of that, she is recovering from the abrupt separation from Alex, the boy she loved so much that she ran away from everything she knew. She meets up with a resistance group living in the wilds. The story switches between Lena finding her way to the group and living with them to a future time when she is a member of the resistance.

Pandemonium is definitely grittier than Delirium. There is way more action and conflict. Alternating from Lena’s past and present kept the pace moving and made the book completely unpredictable. I really had no idea what was going to happen and this made the book difficult to put down. Out of the two books, I still think I liked Delirium more, but Pandemonium is still fantastic. It’s just different than the first.

I will leave this review short and simple because I know readers of Delirium will pick up Pandemonium at break neck speed. I know I did. If you haven’t read Delirium, you should.

Can't wait for the next one!

This book was a little slow at first and to be completely honest i ALMOST gave up. I'm SO glad i didn't! It got SOOOO good! I was excited & stressed about the characters but about 3 hours in I was completely over taken by the book and once again i was sucked in & couldn't stop listening! I had to listen to the last 5 minutes like 3 times!

Friggin' Cliffhanger Ending! (but still good)

STORY - (young adult romance/action) Pandemonium is Book 2 in the Delirium Trilogy. Even though this is a young adult series and I'm not a young adult, I am enjoying it very much. The story is interesting and is beautifully written and performed. It takes place in an America where human emotions are deemed dangerous and procedures are done at age 18 to "cure" everyone from their deadly feelings -- except those who escape. The main characters must grow up quickly to survive, and there is lots of mystery, danger, action and, yes, sweet teenage romance.

There is mostly new characters in this book, even though the story picks up immediately where Book 1 left off, and there are two timelines going at once. At first the two timeslines were confusing, but just go with the flow and enjoy. It's easy to keep straight which is which, and it all makes sense in the end. You will want to listen to these books in order, starting with Book 1, but beware of cliffhanger endings in both books -- BIG, FAT cliffhangers!

PERFORMANCE - I can't recall any other narrator who puts as much emotion into a performance as Sara Drew does in these books. As she tells the story through the main character, Layna, you can really feel her joy, fear, strength, pain. Great job.

OVERALL - Highly recommended for young adults and for old people like me who occasionally enjoy a good YA story.

Dying for the next book!

What did you like best about this story?

It's unpredictable. I like that I have no idea where this is going to end up!

What does Sarah Drew bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She is really great at bringing the characters to life and makes you really root for them!

Good YA dystopia

If you could sum up Pandemonium in three words, what would they be?

Fast, pace, addictive

What did you like best about this story?

The look at different society points of view

What about Sarah Drew’s performance did you like?

She does a great job with voices

Great Story!

Love this story! And Sara Drew is an amazing narrator! Looking forward to the next book!

A bit of a let down

I was enthralled with the first book in this trilogy, Delirium. The intensity of living in the city with prying eyes always on the main character, Lena, and the forbidden love of the couple adds a layer to the story that's hard to top. Pandemonium was good, but just not AS good as the first. The story line changes so drastically because of the change in scenery and Alex getting shot at the end of the first book. Lena, too, changes in so many ways that she's hardly the same girl from Delirium. Although that may have been true to Lena's journey, it was a disapointment for me. I was hoping for the next chapter in Lena's story but instead, read a book about an entirely different girl. I was super dissapointed that she didn't spend more time mourning Alex or searching for his family in the wilds he introduced her to on their first trip out. Despite these criticisms, I did enjoy the book - the writing is still excellent and the narrator is superb. I'm excitedly looking forward to the final book, whenever that comes out. Also, (no spoilers) but I saw the ending coming and was dissapointed that Lena didn't.

Delirium was way better

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The ending going to blow your mind

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no..probably in three sittings lol

Any additional comments?

the book is very interesting but the first book a lot better. Also it was too much romance for me.

Great story!

What made the experience of listening to Pandemonium the most enjoyable?

The narrator did a great job you really felt like you were in the story

What does Sarah Drew bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She pulls you into the story and brings the characters to life.

Shocking...young adult book with a love triangle

I like the main idea of this book, I didn't like that she added the love triangle. It is sort of lame to me, and I never really felt the chemistry with the new love interest. He was ok... but book one was much better with the love interest, you really cared a lot about them and felt like they were connected. This book I feel like he was just the first eligible guy she met so she liked him.... I am also so sick of the love triangle thing... the idea of this story is really cool I don't think she needed to add the "love triangle twist".
but that being said, if you read book one you will want to see what happens and the adventure is really good. The main character really grows up and becomes really strong. this book is worth a listen if you read book one.