Requiem

Wow haha I didn't expect it to end like this. I mean like, I raged through the whole book because I needed closure, you know, and the open-ended ending was quite bad in this case. So what happens next? At least give some cheesy “10 years later” ending to tie up a fraction of the loose ends...

Basically what I felt in this book: Ew Alex, Ew x 100 times Lena, Omg Julian baby, Wtf is this Coral girl, Wow Hana actually has a nice life, Woah Fred that's so expected of you, Creying Raven, Lol Grace is a weirdo.

But nonetheless, the writing is absolutely beautiful and there were really nice quotes towards the otherwise stupid ending.

az értékelések* között már említették és csak megerősíteni tudom, lena ütnivalóan idegesítő egy némber ebben a könyvben. ez rá is nyomja a bélyegét az egészre, hiába a jobbfajta hanás részek, összességében gyakorlatilag értékelhetetlen ez a befejezés.

annyi jótanáccsal hadd szolgáljak, hogy a hangoskönyv verziót messzire kerüljétek. ilyen idegesítő hangú és hangsúlyokkal operáló nőt én még nem hallottam olvasni. elalváshoz szoktam hangoskönyveket hallgatni, de ezen rendszeresen fölbosszantottam magam, úgyhogy nem volt túl szerencsés választás. ráadásul a végén még áradozott is, hogy jaj, de jó volt, mennyire élvezi ezt a munkát, blablabla. áh, hagyjuk inkább...

(*a molyon)

Originally posted on The Selkie Reads Stories (http://selkiereadsstories.blogspot.com)

After waiting for so long for Requiem, the final installment of the well-loved Delirium trilogy, I wanted to read it as soon as my hands caressed the smooth cover and didn't mind (or scream at) the slightly scary cover girl at all. Time came that the release date was just around the corner and I finally allowed myself to start reading and transport myself back to The Wilds. Surprisingly though, that didn't happen and I was still lying on the sofa wondering if the book will ever start to get interesting.

Requiem was so painfully slow. The roller coaster journey that I expected was replaced with a railroad track: turtle-paced and straight. I understand that the plot had to build up before it reached it's climax, but the book was filled with a lot of unnecessary scenes and tedious dialogue. There were a lot of times where I found myself getting bored and wanting to skip entire paragraphs.

A lot of conflicts presented in the story were causeless and frustrating to read about. I didn't care too much for the characters, either. They annoyed me to death and it was like they were just using each other. The depth of the relationships in Delirium and Pandemonium were evident but I just couldn't feel them in Delirium. The intense love, regret, thirst for vengeance, and hope that he book was supposed to focus on was near invisible.

Lauren Oliver's writing was masterful as always. Lena's and Hana's point of view were equally well-written and gave voice to the characters. The world-building was magical, believable, raw, and real. I ended up envisioning myself going to places that Lena and Hana went to, and the way the rebellion progressed and how it was planned and executed was well thought of. Lauren's words and sentences were beautiful, fluid, and song-like. She could effortlessly and seamlessly weave and bend words to her liking, making me want to keep on reading despite the slow pace.

Requiem was not a bad conclusion to the trilogy but it just didn't reach my high expectations for it and I am disappointed because of that. The book eventually picked up and got my attention a few chapters before the book ended, though. The climax crept up on me and receded as quickly as it came. Most fans are complaining about the ending because the series was concluded with uncertainty and a lot of questions to be answered but I actually liked it; it was more of a sign of a new beginning than an ending, really. The message it echoed reached me and the last few paragraphs were so raw and truthful; I feel like they would always be a part of me.

I am still hungry for a proper epilogue, though.

What? I just can't. This was so not the ending I was waiting for.
I'm leaning more toward 2.5 stars at this point...

WHAT WAS THE ENDING!? WHAT THE HECKKKKKKKK. WHY WAS NOTHING ANSWERED!!? What happens to Fred? Did the bomb even work!?What about Hana?What about Julian? What about EVERYTHING!?!You can't just give us Grace and then end it! Do Alex and Lena even really get back together!? For all we know, everyone could be killed. WHAT IS THIS. So disappointing. Ugh. You could have at least added like two more chapters to give us a somewhat closed ending. GAH. More insight into Alex's mind would have also been appreciated!

Not the best ending to a series I've read. This one was just boring and dragged along. I'm not sure if Lauren Oliver's poetic style of writing did her a disservice in this last novel. Maybe when was too concerned with making it sound pretty to actually give us an effective ending? Not sure. Also, I'm all for ambiguous endings, but we didn't learn the fate of anyone. Besides Raven I guess, and she wasn't even that integral to the story. Overall, this could have been a lot better.

Solid conclusion to the trilogy, with enough closure to be satisfying but also open-ended enough to feel true to the world as it's been built.

IDK, I guess I don't have anything earth-shattering to say about this. Probably if you read and liked the first 2 of the trilogy you will also enjoy this one.

I'm really very disappointed. The end felt like Oliver just gave up. Like she'd lost the story and just threw something quick and easy together to end it.

When I'm in a world for the long haul - and anyone who reads trilogies or series are - I want to know what happens to the characters. I want to know something about their futures so I can picture a happy ending at least. This ending didn't give me that. What happened to Hana? Did Fred find her and kill her? I can't imagine he would actually stay in the house just because he told her he would. Did Lena get a chance to settle down with her family?

NOT ENOUGH ANSWER. And not enough details to let my imagination wander. Instead, we hit a wall very abruptly (hey, that wall needs to come down).