Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
The basics
Title: Pandemonium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Series: Delirium #2
- Delirium (February 2011) - Pandemonium (February 2012) - Requiem (March 2013)
Add it: Goodreads
Goodreads 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.
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In short
Lena joins with Invalids in the Wilds and must learn to survive and overcome her grief. She then becomes a part of the resistance, re-immerses herself in society and joins the DFA (Deliria-Free America). She’s captured by Scavengers with Julian, the high-profile son of the leader of the DFA, and must find a way to escape. From the unknown enemy to her unexpected feelings for Julian, Lena has no idea that at the end of it all she’ll meet her mother and find out that Alex is alive!
What happened in Pandemonium?
- Lena escapes from the fence, leaves Alex behind, and is running for her life through the Wilds. She is rescued by a group of people living in a homestead in the Wilds, and they feed her and nurse her back to health.
- Weak and heartbroken, Lena is put to work and must contribute to the community she has joined. She channels her grief over Alex’s death into building up her strength and helping everyone prepare to relocate the homestead for the winter.
- Lena is out gathering supplies and spots dozens of birds painted red – the signal that the Invalids need to run. She’s running back to the camp as bombs fall and set the Wilds on fire. Survivors of the bomb take off together for the encampments that were set up for their relocation journey. While on the run, Lena is branded to look like she’s been Cured and officially joins the resistance.
- Lena rejoins society and enrolls as a student and tells everyone that her parents died in the Incidents. She also joins the DFA so that she can blend in and observe their activity.
- After leaving her glove behind at a DFA meeting, Lena meets Julian Fineman, son of the head of the DFA. She’s then assigned to track and follow Julian.
- During the rally before Julian is cured, there are gunshots as the Scavengers raid the meeting. In the aftermath, Lena follows Julian into a subway entrance that leads them underground where they are both captured by Scavengers.
- As prisoners of the Scavengers, Julian and Lena begin to bond by telling each other stories and getting to know one another.
- Lena and Julian escape from their captors, but kill several Scavengers in the process. Once they escape from the tunnels, they emerge in the landfill and find a deserted homestead nearby.
- Alone together at the homestead, Lena and Julian make out. The next morning, regulators arrive and Julian is taken into custody. Lena is smuggled out by a freedom fighter.
- Reunited with Raven and Tack, Lena learns that they knew all along that the Scavengers were being paid off by the DFA and that her and Julian’s capture was planned by the resistance.
- Lena feels used and is concerned for Julian, especially when she hears the news mention that he is a victim of the deliria, is under house arrest, has resigned from his position with the DFA and is refusing the cure.
How did it end?
Anything else?
Wilds – anywhere outside of the cities where the Invalids (uncured) live
Deliria – the term for love, which is considered a disease
Invalids – people who live in the Wilds, are not Cured and make up the resistance
Incidents – violent, visible strikes coordinated by the resistance that caused simultaneous explosions in important municipal buildings
Crypts – a prison in Portland for those who resist and can’t be cured
DFA (Deliria-Free America) – group Lena joins, led by Thomas Fineman, that calls for the government to enforce the cure and eradicate the delirium
Scavengers – Invalids who don’t stand for anything (like being a part of the resistance)
Salvage – the homestead in the landfill where Lena and Julian stay after escaping from the tunnels
Freedom Fighter – another term for the Invalids and members of the resistance
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