12.26.2014 | Friday

Alex

Item: Alex
Rating: 4
Author: Kim

category: Book Reviews
tag(s): young adult
0 Comments

title: Alex
author: Lauren Oliver
series: Delirium #3.5
published: 25 November 2014
publisher: HarperCollins
genre(s): dystopian, romance
pages: 37
source: bought
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | BookBub | StoryGraph | Goodreads

rating:

| series rating:

the blurb

When Alex sacrificed himself to save Lena, he thought he was committing himself to certain death, but what he got was almost worse. Imprisoned and tortured by the guards, his mind forces him to relive a past he would rather forget. But in the dark he grows stronger. Both hopeful and terrified, he fights to find his way back to her and the love he still clings to.

In this digital story that will appeal to fans of Delirium and welcome new admirers to its world, readers will learn of Alex's time after the events of Delirium, as well as the dark past that he has tried to forget.

my review

Alex is the last of the Delirium novellas, letting us get to know Alex through his own eyes instead of through Lena’s. Most of it told of his time in the crypts and then his escape. It was interesting to see his character change during his time away, but it made me even less sure which guy I wanted to “win” in the end. I liked Alex in Delirium, but I didn’t love him. I liked Julian, too, but I didn’t love him either. Alex changed so much in this novella that he is almost a different person and even though I read this after Requiem, I am still not sure how I feel!

Like most of the other novellas, this isn’t entirely necessary to enjoy the main trilogy, but the depth it adds is a good addition.

About Lauren Oliver

Lauren Oliver comes from a family of writers and so has always (mistakenly) believed that spending hours in front of the computer every day, mulling over the difference between “chortling” and “chuckling,” is normal. She has always been an avid reader.

She attended the University of Chicago, where she continued to be as impractical as possible by majoring in philosophy and literature. After college, she attended the MFA program at NYU and worked briefly as the world’s worst editorial assistant, and only marginally better assistant editor, at a major publishing house in New York. Her major career contributions during this time were flouting the corporate dress code at every possible turn and repeatedly breaking the printer. Before I Fall is her first published novel.

She is deeply grateful for the chance to continue writing, as she has never been particularly good at anything else.