Requiem By Lauren Oliver

Goodreads Summary:
They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.
But we are still here.
And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.
Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.
But we have chosen a different road.
And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.
We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

My Thoughts:

When I heard this book would be told from two narratives, Hana and Lena, I was annoyed. The biggest complaint I had with Pandemonium was the switching between time frames. I am pleased to say that I was not annoyed when reading Requiem. It felt natural to switch between Hana and Lena"s worlds. It was nice to get the POV from a cured person, indicating that the cure doesn't really work.

****SPOILER ALERT****

Hana has the fuzziness and weirdness from having her brain missing scoops. She is still herself though, underneath it all, and she still cares about Lena. I was not shocked to learn that it had been Hana who betrayed Lena and Alex in Delirium. She causes the dominoes to fall far too quickly for the two lovers. I had always suspected that it was Hana. She was the only one who know the plans between Lena and Alex. I love where her story ends.

Lena is still in the wilds with Raven and Tack. Julian has come along even though Alex has resurfaced. Love triangles tend to bother me but this one didn't bother me. I felt Lena had gone through a natural grief process with thinking Alex was dead. I felt her feelings for Julian were also natural. I would say the best thing about the way this story unfolded was that it all felt natural and not pushed or forced.

I like that Lauren Oliver didn't sum up the story in a nice pretty package. We know that Alex and Lena still love each other but we don't know for sure what will happen to them. We know that the Resistance has staged a massive protest in Portland but we don't know if it will last or work the way they wanted. I really think this was the best way to end my favorite series. I really enjoyed this book. I will say that it was hard at times to get through a chapter without getting a little choked up. 

I would recommend this book and the whole series to any one wanting a good read. Lauren Oliver is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

While writing this review I was listening to an episode of Downton Abby.