It's just, like, nature and stuff, you know? It's not as scary as she's been led to believe. Wanting Lena to see the outside world, Alex sneaks her out into the Wilds-the place where people who have shirked their society's laws live. Now she can get back to thinking about Alex's shirtlessness without guilt. And he takes his shirt off, which derails Lena's whole train of thought.Ī few days later, she finds out that Hana lived too. The raiders arrive, and Lena's become a tasty snack for an angry attack dog.Īlex saves her, and nurses her back to health. Lena sneaks out to the party to warn Hana, but she's too late. Lena sits this one out, until she hears that the Regulators (whose purpose in this futuristic society is exactly what you think it is) are about to do a raid. Then, one night, Hana goes to another party. Alex confesses he's not actually cured-while this seems to shock Lena, we're not at all surprised by this development. But, unable to resist the scandalous appeal of a party, Lena sneaks out and goes to a party anyway. Lena and Hana have a falling out when Lena discovers that Hana is attending forbidden parties where boys and girls hang out together. And he's a total flirt, despite being Cured. He's a guard for the city of Portland, Maine.

A few days later, on a run with her BFF Hana, she meets the same boy on the docks. Scandalized like a Victorian lady who has just seen an unclothed ankle, Lena just can't get him outta her head.

He does the unthinkable: he winks at her. Then she sees a boy watching her from the balcony. Their message is that Lena and her fellow citizens are all a bunch of brainless livestock.Īfter Lena moos, er, moves out of the way, she ruminates on the implications of the prank. On the day of Lena's evaluation-the procedure that will decide everything about her future-the people who live outside of her society (the Invalids) pull a prank: they release a bunch of cows into the evaluation room. This freedom doesn't sound very free to us. And by free we mean they get their education, occupation, spouse, and number of kids chosen for them.Īnd they have no emotions. When people turn 18, they get 'cured' and they're free to live their lives. Lucky for everyone, we guess, there's a cure. In this society, your own emotions can be your enemy.

Lena Haloway, our fearful narrator (yes, we mean fear ful-this girl's afraid of everything), lives in a world where love is a sickness.

Delirium novel