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

Awesome......I want more!

What did you love best about Pandemonium?

I liked the story line and the way the author gave the main character strenght and courage to go forward when everything seemed lost.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked that Lena was able to pick up the pieces of her life and build a new life for herself without giving up her identity.

Which character – as performed by Sarah Drew – was your favorite?

Lena

Any additional comments?

Love, love, love this book. I loved the new characters specially Raven and Julian. I can't wait to read the next one.

good read

Is there anything you would change about this book?

No it was very exciting and romantic.It was veryinteresting the way she developed her characters

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I liked how the relationships changed during course of story

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

yes narration very good

Did Pandemonium inspire you to do anything?

no

Any additional comments?

no

Continuation of a great story...

If you haven't listened to Delirium (first book in three part series), then do yourself a favor and read it first, before Pandemonium. This is part 2 of a 3 part series.

The narrator, Sarah Drew, is amazing and totally brings this story to life by her character voices and intonations. If nothing more, listen to this book for her. The author isn't half bad, either. LOL

Lena is growing into adulthood in a terrible world where people don't like to "feel" things, unless they are infected with the disease of Love. The ragtag group that Lena hangs with becomes very close knit and as much of a family as they can be. Sometimes emotions run high, but satisfyingly meaty.

Great book.

Exquisitely detailed and riviting

Once you get past the bizarre premise of this trilogy, this book takes you away...It is an escape... it is an adventure that you can see, smell and taste. I couldn't stop listening! My husband even enjoyed it! My only complaint: the final book has not been released yet!
Enjoy the ride :)

Nothing like I expected

What was one of the most memorable moments of Pandemonium?

The surprise ending is the best (and most frustrating) moment of the book!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

"What's real and what's true aren't necessarily the same." - Salman Rushdie

Predictable Pandemonium

I think the format and the energy of this book was much better than the first. The alternate storylines between the past and present had a good pace for the novel. The past storyline seemed to end abruptly.

The major plot twists were really predictable, but I still enjoyed the action-packed novel. I'll probably read the next one to see where the cliffhanger leads.

So, nobody is going point out the narrator's ?

This is bugging me! Why is the narrator pronouncing 'Hanna' different in this novel, as compared to the first? Seriously, nobody has noticed it going from the more American pronunciation of 'Hanna' to more of a 'Haaaw-na' that has a lot of guteral 'H' to it? I went straight from listening to the first book, Delirium, to this one, and noticed it right away. At first, I had no idea the Narrator was referring to the same character. Then it hit me she is just saying Hanna, but just so, so weirdly. What the? Whyyyyy? It's such a distraction now. Good thing Hanna isn't mentioned as much in this one.

Plus, seriously YA authors, stop with love triangles. Despite those 2 things, I did enjoy this book. I will most likely listen to the last one too, just to round it out :)

I LOVE Sarah Drew!!!!

First, I have to give credit to Ms Sarah Drew. She was exceptional in this book and Delirium as well. I don't know if I would've liked this story or would've continued reading it if I wasn't listening instead. Sarah's voice got me through the dragging lulls in the story. As for the book, it was just okay. It definitely wasn't as good as the first and it wasn't what I was expecting, but not in a good way. Lauren Oliver is a great writer, make no mistake in what I'm saying. She can make any sentence a good one, smooth and flowing. I will continue to purchase anything from Ms. Oliver and listen to everything by Ms. Drew.

Another Eloquent Installment

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

Fresh off her heart breaking escape from Lena's love lobotomizing society, she discovers the freedoms of the Wilds. And all the chores that come with them. Turns out she was pretty pampered in the enclosed cured community. Life on the outside is hard, hard work, little food, and lots of casualties.

But as the resistance is rising, the cured have renewed their efforts in eliminating the invalids, forcing Lena and her new friends to re-assimilate into the Manhattan colony. Lena soon finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy and finding love in the most unlikely places.

Lauren Oliver's Pandemonium is an eloquently written mess of thoughts and details strung together to form a coherent character and world in a very unique way. I think the sequel exceeds Delirium in story and structure. I always felt the eradication of love as a main motivator a little flimsy, and it was the linchpin that held everything together in the first book. In Pandemonium the story focuses less on the cure, in favor of a more active plot line. Plus Oliver needed less time working on world building and character establishment so she could focus on a more complex plot without sacrificing the romance and lyrical flow of her writing fans of the series love. Some of the pacing in the beginning was slow, but it gained momentum as Lena grew stronger. A few lingering questions were answered, but with them came more inquiries that are sure to bring readers back for the next installment.

Sarah Drew's performance of Pandemonium was good. Her portrayal of Lena was nice, maybe a bit dramatic at times, but she really knows how to capture the angst of teenage melodrama. I think her choices in voicing Julian was better than how she speaks for Alex, but overall she does a fine job with the series.

Picks up where Delirium left off -

Pandemonium picks up right where Delirium ends in the aftermath of Lena making it to the Wilds, with Alex presumably left behind and killed. This book is composed as a series of flashbacks of her life in the Wilds and her present time as an active part of the Resistance.

I loved the way the author used the THEN and the NOW in alternate chapters to show how past happenings led up to present day events and characters. This was an audio version of the book and the narrator did an excellent job. Her voice and tempo were perfect and never once left me cringing (like some other narrators who shall remain nameless). Although this book revealed many secrets and the ending left me breathless I fear I will have to wait a long time for the next installment in the Delirium Series because this one was just released and I can’t wait. I know authors hear this complaint all the time, but why can’t they write faster? That’s how good this book is.

If you’re looking for another series to read and you like Young Adult material you really should try this one and I promise you won’t be disappointed.