So...at exactly 10:30pm last night I died. Literally.
Because finishing Lauren Oliver's Pandemonium tends to make you a tad suicidal - like "WHY DOES THERE HAVE TO BE SUCH A HEART-WRENCHING CLIFFHANGER (again)?" suicidal. Let me just say this: You will love this next instalment in the series, but you may just lose your mind at the end!
So it starts off with chapters headed 'now' and 'then'. Personally, this drives me mad! I loved the differentiating between them, but you'll be in a really good bit in 'now' and then all of a sudden it says 'then' and your mind has to catch up with where 'then' previously left off...yeah. My mind wasn't meant to do that kind of mental gymnastics!!
To sum up: Lena is trying to forget Alex. Forget what happened to him. Forget the past, or 'the before'. But forgetting comes with a price - she may just lose herself, the emptiness inside her threatening to engulf her completely.
But grief has to wait. This story isn't just about lovesick teenagers! Society is still in chaos, with sides (Invalid vs Deliria-free) blurring and differences between friend and foe merge and come closer still.
Is Lena willing to treat this as a war? That was the best part I have to say, when she is conversing with raven near the end and Raven talks about how (not to quote) "This is a war and every war has casualties" or something along those lines. Lena feels this is wrong. She tells Raven so. But you see how, like in the Hunger Games with Katniss and Mockingjay (creating a Hunger Games for the Capital children idea anyone?!), sometimes the people who are being oppressed become so angry and hurt by the oppressors that they don't see how similar their actions are to those of their oppressors!! It's like fighting fire with fire!
Julian: ah, Julian. Julian or Alex, folks?! I have no idea. I hate love angles (NOT triangles, people. Triangles connect! Julian and Alex aren't in love!)!! They're such pains because one guy (normally the one who actually deserves her!) always ends up hurt and the girl is like "tough biscuits" and she's all happy and the other guy has to suck it up! Also, it is emotionally traumatising!
To sum up me at the moment: Dying of cliff-hangerism and anticipation. NEED THE NEXT BOOK! There is no amount of caps locking that could bring across how much this ending killed me! Maybe I'm just a drama queen *sniffs* but I personally had a hard time getting to sleep last night after reading it!
Cliffhangers - pfft! Who needs them?!!
