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Delirium #0.5, 1.5, 2.5
Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel, Raven and Alex
These four short stories are now available in one beautiful paperback edition and include an exclusive sneak peek at Lauren Oliver's brand new novel Replica - coming soon!
All the stories expand upon and enrich the Delirium world, illuminating events and characters through different perspectives.
HANA adds nuance to the life-changing summer before best friends Lena and Hana are to be cured - a moment when the girls' paths diverge and their futures are altered forever.
ANNABEL untangles the mysteries surrounding Lena's mother, detailing her journey from teenage runaway to prisoner of the state.
RAVEN crackles with the intensity of its title character, the fierce leader of a rebel group in the Wilds who plays an integral role in the resistance.
And ALEX explains what happened to Lena's first love after the events of DELIRIUM, as well as the dark past that he has tried to forget.
161 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 28, 2012
About the author
Lauren Oliver
61 books118k followersLauren Oliver is an author, screenwriter, and media entrepreneur. She is the author of the upcoming novels THE GIRL IN THE LAKE (June 1, 2026) and its sequel, THE SLEEPWALKER (May 5, 2027). Her previous works include multiple New York Times bestselling novels for teens, including Before I Fall (which spent seventeen weeks on the list and was adapted into a feature film released by Open Road), the Delirium trilogy (a two-million-copy-selling dystopian series translated into thirty-five languages), and Panic, which she later adapted into the streaming TV show on Amazon Prime of the same name, for which she wrote every episode and served as Executive Producer. Along the way, Lauren founded the IP company StoryGiants and helped to package and edit nearly one hundred other novels. She is also the co-founder of Incantor AI, a self-scaling digital media engine built on a new and proprietary foundational model of artificial intelligence that respects copyright by providing both IP attribution and royalty shares to contributing sources. Raised in Westchester, New York, Lauren attended the University of Chicago and got her MFA from NYU. She now divides her time between Maryland and Los Angeles. Subscribe to my Substack! laurenoliverbooks.substack.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 630 reviews
May 27, 2021
Short but sweet. Glad I read these stories as they gave me a new perspective on all the characters, particularly Hannah.
Cannot say I like Hannah as a character but I like seeing what is going to happen next. A must read for all fans of the Delirium stories.
Cannot say I like Hannah as a character but I like seeing what is going to happen next. A must read for all fans of the Delirium stories.
Want to Read
December 31, 2012It's nice of them to release a print collection of the novellas. :)
Though I did wish they used the flowers on the novella covers of Hana, Annabel and Raven instead of Delirum/Pandemonium/Requiem.
EDIT;
I made one for fun (because I especially like the flowers on Raven <3)
Though I did wish they used the flowers on the novella covers of Hana, Annabel and Raven instead of Delirum/Pandemonium/Requiem.
EDIT;
I made one for fun (because I especially like the flowers on Raven <3)
June 13, 2017
As most everything she writes - this book by Lauren Oliver - is well written and easy to read. I am able to get lost in her books and not notice the passage of time.
This is a book that has the 3 off shoots in the Delirium trilogy. It is the short stories about 3 of the main characters in this series ~~ Hana, Annabel and Raven. It has been some time since I have read Delirium and I used this short book as a reminder of the story and to hopefully bring me up to speed allowing me to read the last two books of the trilogy.
This trilogy is an older grouping, dystopian, the world as we know it collapsing, people being put thorough the cure to eradicate love, then being paired with a mate to spend the rest of their life. Or as a number of these characters are doing - escaping the wall and going into "The Wild" to make a new life and civilization.
This is a book that has the 3 off shoots in the Delirium trilogy. It is the short stories about 3 of the main characters in this series ~~ Hana, Annabel and Raven. It has been some time since I have read Delirium and I used this short book as a reminder of the story and to hopefully bring me up to speed allowing me to read the last two books of the trilogy.
This trilogy is an older grouping, dystopian, the world as we know it collapsing, people being put thorough the cure to eradicate love, then being paired with a mate to spend the rest of their life. Or as a number of these characters are doing - escaping the wall and going into "The Wild" to make a new life and civilization.
April 3, 2013
Half a star.
Yes, you read that right. One half and I give her that simply because I like her writing style. BUT, there is no need for these stories.
I have trouble with this series as I feel the world-building is so slight that I still have no idea why the world works as it does or why the government outlawed love. I could understand outlawing hate or envy, but why do away with love? Kindly explain this.
So, since this world is, for me anyway, so nebulous and murky, I thought to be fair that I should leave no stone unturned, or, in this instance, no story unread, that might lift the mists over this world, making it more understandable.
Instead, what I feel I got is the author reaching her fingers into my pocket, grabbing a wad of cash, yelling 'ha!' right in my face and making a run for it.
Not one of these stories add to the overall mythology of this world. None of them add to the information or move the story along in any way.
Going in reverse order, Raven's story is her side of the rescue from the second book with one additional bit on info that will become apparent (literally) in the next book.
Annabel's story is her prison escape which we also already know with some included memories that she loved her husband and children. Shocking! (and we already knew this also)
Hana's is truly the worst of the lot because it shows her to be nothing more than a self-centered, jealous teenage girl
Disappointing.
Yes, you read that right. One half and I give her that simply because I like her writing style. BUT, there is no need for these stories.
I have trouble with this series as I feel the world-building is so slight that I still have no idea why the world works as it does or why the government outlawed love. I could understand outlawing hate or envy, but why do away with love? Kindly explain this.
So, since this world is, for me anyway, so nebulous and murky, I thought to be fair that I should leave no stone unturned, or, in this instance, no story unread, that might lift the mists over this world, making it more understandable.
Instead, what I feel I got is the author reaching her fingers into my pocket, grabbing a wad of cash, yelling 'ha!' right in my face and making a run for it.
Not one of these stories add to the overall mythology of this world. None of them add to the information or move the story along in any way.
Going in reverse order, Raven's story is her side of the rescue from the second book with one additional bit on info that will become apparent (literally) in the next book.
Annabel's story is her prison escape which we also already know with some included memories that she loved her husband and children. Shocking! (and we already knew this also)
Hana's is truly the worst of the lot because it shows her to be nothing more than a self-centered, jealous teenage girl
Disappointing.
January 30, 2022
When I first saw these Delirium e-novellas being published at the same time as the main books of the trilogy, I felt left out. I didn't own an e-reader or any device to download e-books, but I wanted to find out what happens in these peripheral narratives to the Delirium series. What revelations were made about Raven's past, before she teamed up with Lena to take down the despotic anti-love government? What did Lena's mother, Annabel, go through for the eleven years she was kept isolated in lockup because of her immunity to the love cure, languishing in filth while her youngest daughter grew up believing her mother died years ago? What was captivity like for Alex after he was shot helping Lena escape to the Wilds just before her expedited curing procedure that would have stolen her passion for Alex, never to be restored this side of paradise? Lena reasonably presumed Alex dead when she ran off haunted and alone into the Wilds, seeing the shirt he wore soak through with blood as he appeared to breathe his last. But Alex didn't die, and his return would complicate Lena's rebuilt life dramatically in Requiem. Added to all this backstory is the early days of Hana's rebellion against the cure that surgically prevents young people from contracting amor deliria nervosa, eliminating raw emotion so courtship can be conducted in an orderly, clinical fashion. We read about Hana's playful rebellion in Delirium, how it feels like a game to her until suddenly it's not, but the short story in this collection reveals more. That's true of all four novellas contained here.
"Lies are just stories, and stories are all that matter. We all tell stories. Some are more truthful than others, maybe, but in the end the only thing that counts is what you can make people believe."
—Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel, Raven, & Alex, P. 136, from "Raven"
In "Hana", teens who sneak out for romantic rendezvous have to be more careful than ever. In light of rumors that Invalids are thriving in the Wilds and may be planning a coordinated strike against city governments, the regime wants to dampen enthusiasm for social change before it garners momentum. Daughter of a respected family and matched to someday marry the mayor's son, Hana doesn't want to disgrace her parents, but the idea of clandestine romance thrills her. Lena was horrified to learn of her best friend Hana flouting society's strict precautions against amor deliria nervosa and wanted no part of it, but Hana still sneaks out at night to underground parties whenever an opportunity arises. Her hope is to meet up with Steve Hilt, who gets her heart racing as will no longer be biologically possible after she's forced to receive the cure. Hana feels the electricity of amor like a drug in her veins when she's with Steve, an ecstasy she lives for as much as any sensible longterm goal. "That, too, is an itch—the desire to see him, to kiss him again, to let him put his fingers in my hair—is a monstrous, constant, crawling feeling in my blood and bones. It's worse than a disease. It's a poison. And I like it." Why would she want to exchange that pleasurable rush for the drabness of the cure? Then the night of the raid comes, the night when Hana had begun questioning Steve's commitment—does he care for her, or just want cheap carnal satisfaction?—and the exotic sensual overload of the party they're at suddenly morphs into a river of terror. Regulators are everywhere, beating up hormonal teens for their youthful indiscretion before hauling them away for an early cure to suppress the amor deliria nervosa that obviously has infected them. The raid is panic, horror, fear of lifelong consequences if Hana is caught, not a fun challenge to be taken lightly. Hana's ability to think clearly under duress is her means of escape, and after tonight she's not about to play with fire again. That is, until she stumbles onto Lena's hidden relationship with Alex, the turning point in all their lives.
"Is it possible to tell the truth in a society of lies? Or must you always, of necessity, become a liar?
And if you lie to a liar, is the sin somehow negated or reversed?"
—Delirium Stories, P. 74, from "Annabel"
"Annabel" shifts between the past and present for Lena's mother, who ran away from home as a teenager so she wouldn't have to take the cure. Her serendipitous pickpocketing of a stranger who would one day become Lena's father leads indirectly to Annabel's capture, but readers of Delirium already know the cure won't work on her. Annabel faked it for years, adjusting to life with a cured husband and eventually two daughters, but she was doomed for captivity in the Crypts whenever they found out she was still susceptible to amor deliria nervosa. Reform societies usually refuse to tolerate viewpoints that differ from their own rigid ideology. "A path and a place for everyone, and for the people who disagree, a hole." Such is the way when government is seized by the notion that it knows what's best for us better than we do. Annabel can't push down her true feelings forever, the love inside her like a secret symphony the world is barred from listening to. "But that's the problem with love—it acts on you, works through you, resists your attempts to control. That's what made it so frightening to the lawmakers: Love obeys no laws other than its own. That's what has always made it frightening." Now Annabel rots in a dark cell of the Crypts, no companion to trust with her deepest secrets, no comforting or caressing touch to ward off the evil of her barren surroundings. The only sympathizer she's seen for the past decade is Thomas, her eldest daughter's former boyfriend who, as a guard in the Crypts, can't even speak to Annabel for fear of reprisal. But pieces of extra fabric he's slipped to her over the years, kept stashed in the torn lining of her bed, has given Annabel enough material for a rope to dangle out through a concealed hole in the wall and lower herself the forty-five feet to freedom. Thomas's coded signal that it's finally time for the jailbreak after years with nothing but memories to keep hope alive is almost too much for Annabel to take, but she'll try her best for Lena, who may be out there somewhere pining for her mother. Readers of Requiem know what happens next.
"That's what time does: We stand stubbornly like rocks while it flows all around us, believing that we are immutable—and all the time we're being carved, and shaped, and whittled away."
—Delirium Stories, P. 91, from "Annabel"
Similarly to "Annabel", "Raven" bounces between Raven's memories and the present day, where she gets an inconvenient surprise that complicates her already difficult existence. Raven's father was a physically abusive alcoholic who inflicted awful damage on Raven and her mother, so when the cure was first announced, Raven's mother jumped at the chance to undergo it and insisted her husband do the same. Raven left home early for refuge in the Wilds, hooking on with this group and that until meeting a thief who stole supplies from Raven's newest batch of companions. Raven despised the thief, but he claimed his mother was a nurse, and the little girl Raven was taking care of, Blue, was sick and on the verge of death. Letting the thief go and trusting him to bring back medicine was Blue's only hope. And the thief did return, a sharp young man who had proven his integrity in the eyes of Raven's group and was thenceforth called Tack. His original animosity with Raven couldn't overrule his gut feeling that she was worth returning for, and as they stayed together and formed their own tenacious group that Lena eventually joins, they developed a unique bond of love, filled with gestures and expressions meaningful only to the two of them. Isn't that what love is, the construction of a flesh-and-blood monument that no one will ever understand like the two who have become one? "We keep these things for each other, the deepest parts. In valid cities it's those places that get stomped out first, even before the cure—the wounds and weirdness and the pieces we carry like misshapen gifts, waiting for a person to welcome them." Raven and Tack's freedom-fighting continues in the present with the plot to rescue Julian Fineman from execution, and then on to a goal much bigger than the survival of one person. If they both live through the ordeal of overthrowing the government and taking down those walls, there will be special joy ahead for Raven and Tack.
The most savage tortures of Delirium Stories are in "Alex", and are only hinted at as he summarizes his captivity by guards who viewed Uncureds as subhuman. His agony was disrupted by revolutionaries laying siege to the Crypts, blowing holes in its walls so hundreds of mangled political prisoners could escape. Many were caught and thrown back in their grimy, lightless cells, but Alex eluded his tormentors and made his way to the Wilds, the last place he'd seen Lena before he "died". Lena was a scared young girl of the suburbs back then, needing Alex to give her courage to go against her domineering family and run away rather than receive the cure. Could that girl survive the Wilds? That hope keeps Alex searching for a whisper of evidence that Lena is somewhere out there. When he hears that whisper, Alex takes off like a shot for where Lena might be. If such a miracle is possible in this dirty, disturbing, incredible world, he's going to make it happen. "Amor deliria nervosa. The deadliest of all deadly things." Nothing else could convince people from every station and walk of life to sacrifice themselves for their beloved when society works to ground such feelings to dust under the sharp heel of its boot. As Alex heads after Lena, aware that even if they reunite so much will be different, he ponders the outlawing of love that put every significant event of his life into motion. "Sometimes I think maybe they were right all along, the people on the other side in Zombieland. Maybe it would be better if we didn't love. If we didn't lose, either. If we didn't get our hearts stomped on, shattered; if we didn't have to patch and repatch until we're like Frankenstein monsters, all sewn together and bound up by who knows what. If we could just float along, like snow. That's what Zombieland is: frozen, calm, quiet. It's the world after a blizzard, the peacefulness that comes with it, the muffled silence and the sense that nothing in the world is moving. It's beautiful, in its own way. Maybe we'd be better off. But how could anyone who's ever seen a summer—big explosions of green and skies lit up electric with splashy sunsets, a riot of flowers and wind that smells like honey—pick the snow?" Only the inexorable vow of summer's return keeps us sane through winter's deep freeze, the end of verdant life and the washing out of the world to a dinge of white and gray. Spring and summer will come again after the most violent heartbreak, and it will be worth waiting to see those buds in new bloom, color and aroma so sweet we'll know the season for love has circled back around. We accept the good and bad of amor deliria nervosa because life is nothing without it, wherever the thrill ride takes us. It's why they call life the great adventure.
I don't recommend reading Delirium Stories without doing the trilogy first. These novellas are best understood in the context of the novels, filling in timeline gaps and adding perspective to the characters' actions. The quality of the stories is about the same as Requiem, and that's pretty high praise. I considered ranking "Hana", "Annabel", "Raven", and "Alex" from best to least, but they fit together so well it would almost be like ranking chapters in a novel. Delirium Stories should be viewed as a single book, a fount of wisdom and feeling that nicely complements the Delirium series. I thought about rating it two and a half stars because it's so dependent on readers knowing the trilogy, but I'll go with the full three. I'm going to miss this series, its characters, and the profound truths I absorbed from their story. Farewell, Delirium, and thank you, Lauren Oliver.
"Lies are just stories, and stories are all that matter. We all tell stories. Some are more truthful than others, maybe, but in the end the only thing that counts is what you can make people believe."
—Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel, Raven, & Alex, P. 136, from "Raven"
In "Hana", teens who sneak out for romantic rendezvous have to be more careful than ever. In light of rumors that Invalids are thriving in the Wilds and may be planning a coordinated strike against city governments, the regime wants to dampen enthusiasm for social change before it garners momentum. Daughter of a respected family and matched to someday marry the mayor's son, Hana doesn't want to disgrace her parents, but the idea of clandestine romance thrills her. Lena was horrified to learn of her best friend Hana flouting society's strict precautions against amor deliria nervosa and wanted no part of it, but Hana still sneaks out at night to underground parties whenever an opportunity arises. Her hope is to meet up with Steve Hilt, who gets her heart racing as will no longer be biologically possible after she's forced to receive the cure. Hana feels the electricity of amor like a drug in her veins when she's with Steve, an ecstasy she lives for as much as any sensible longterm goal. "That, too, is an itch—the desire to see him, to kiss him again, to let him put his fingers in my hair—is a monstrous, constant, crawling feeling in my blood and bones. It's worse than a disease. It's a poison. And I like it." Why would she want to exchange that pleasurable rush for the drabness of the cure? Then the night of the raid comes, the night when Hana had begun questioning Steve's commitment—does he care for her, or just want cheap carnal satisfaction?—and the exotic sensual overload of the party they're at suddenly morphs into a river of terror. Regulators are everywhere, beating up hormonal teens for their youthful indiscretion before hauling them away for an early cure to suppress the amor deliria nervosa that obviously has infected them. The raid is panic, horror, fear of lifelong consequences if Hana is caught, not a fun challenge to be taken lightly. Hana's ability to think clearly under duress is her means of escape, and after tonight she's not about to play with fire again. That is, until she stumbles onto Lena's hidden relationship with Alex, the turning point in all their lives.
"Is it possible to tell the truth in a society of lies? Or must you always, of necessity, become a liar?
And if you lie to a liar, is the sin somehow negated or reversed?"
—Delirium Stories, P. 74, from "Annabel"
"Annabel" shifts between the past and present for Lena's mother, who ran away from home as a teenager so she wouldn't have to take the cure. Her serendipitous pickpocketing of a stranger who would one day become Lena's father leads indirectly to Annabel's capture, but readers of Delirium already know the cure won't work on her. Annabel faked it for years, adjusting to life with a cured husband and eventually two daughters, but she was doomed for captivity in the Crypts whenever they found out she was still susceptible to amor deliria nervosa. Reform societies usually refuse to tolerate viewpoints that differ from their own rigid ideology. "A path and a place for everyone, and for the people who disagree, a hole." Such is the way when government is seized by the notion that it knows what's best for us better than we do. Annabel can't push down her true feelings forever, the love inside her like a secret symphony the world is barred from listening to. "But that's the problem with love—it acts on you, works through you, resists your attempts to control. That's what made it so frightening to the lawmakers: Love obeys no laws other than its own. That's what has always made it frightening." Now Annabel rots in a dark cell of the Crypts, no companion to trust with her deepest secrets, no comforting or caressing touch to ward off the evil of her barren surroundings. The only sympathizer she's seen for the past decade is Thomas, her eldest daughter's former boyfriend who, as a guard in the Crypts, can't even speak to Annabel for fear of reprisal. But pieces of extra fabric he's slipped to her over the years, kept stashed in the torn lining of her bed, has given Annabel enough material for a rope to dangle out through a concealed hole in the wall and lower herself the forty-five feet to freedom. Thomas's coded signal that it's finally time for the jailbreak after years with nothing but memories to keep hope alive is almost too much for Annabel to take, but she'll try her best for Lena, who may be out there somewhere pining for her mother. Readers of Requiem know what happens next.
"That's what time does: We stand stubbornly like rocks while it flows all around us, believing that we are immutable—and all the time we're being carved, and shaped, and whittled away."
—Delirium Stories, P. 91, from "Annabel"
Similarly to "Annabel", "Raven" bounces between Raven's memories and the present day, where she gets an inconvenient surprise that complicates her already difficult existence. Raven's father was a physically abusive alcoholic who inflicted awful damage on Raven and her mother, so when the cure was first announced, Raven's mother jumped at the chance to undergo it and insisted her husband do the same. Raven left home early for refuge in the Wilds, hooking on with this group and that until meeting a thief who stole supplies from Raven's newest batch of companions. Raven despised the thief, but he claimed his mother was a nurse, and the little girl Raven was taking care of, Blue, was sick and on the verge of death. Letting the thief go and trusting him to bring back medicine was Blue's only hope. And the thief did return, a sharp young man who had proven his integrity in the eyes of Raven's group and was thenceforth called Tack. His original animosity with Raven couldn't overrule his gut feeling that she was worth returning for, and as they stayed together and formed their own tenacious group that Lena eventually joins, they developed a unique bond of love, filled with gestures and expressions meaningful only to the two of them. Isn't that what love is, the construction of a flesh-and-blood monument that no one will ever understand like the two who have become one? "We keep these things for each other, the deepest parts. In valid cities it's those places that get stomped out first, even before the cure—the wounds and weirdness and the pieces we carry like misshapen gifts, waiting for a person to welcome them." Raven and Tack's freedom-fighting continues in the present with the plot to rescue Julian Fineman from execution, and then on to a goal much bigger than the survival of one person. If they both live through the ordeal of overthrowing the government and taking down those walls, there will be special joy ahead for Raven and Tack.
The most savage tortures of Delirium Stories are in "Alex", and are only hinted at as he summarizes his captivity by guards who viewed Uncureds as subhuman. His agony was disrupted by revolutionaries laying siege to the Crypts, blowing holes in its walls so hundreds of mangled political prisoners could escape. Many were caught and thrown back in their grimy, lightless cells, but Alex eluded his tormentors and made his way to the Wilds, the last place he'd seen Lena before he "died". Lena was a scared young girl of the suburbs back then, needing Alex to give her courage to go against her domineering family and run away rather than receive the cure. Could that girl survive the Wilds? That hope keeps Alex searching for a whisper of evidence that Lena is somewhere out there. When he hears that whisper, Alex takes off like a shot for where Lena might be. If such a miracle is possible in this dirty, disturbing, incredible world, he's going to make it happen. "Amor deliria nervosa. The deadliest of all deadly things." Nothing else could convince people from every station and walk of life to sacrifice themselves for their beloved when society works to ground such feelings to dust under the sharp heel of its boot. As Alex heads after Lena, aware that even if they reunite so much will be different, he ponders the outlawing of love that put every significant event of his life into motion. "Sometimes I think maybe they were right all along, the people on the other side in Zombieland. Maybe it would be better if we didn't love. If we didn't lose, either. If we didn't get our hearts stomped on, shattered; if we didn't have to patch and repatch until we're like Frankenstein monsters, all sewn together and bound up by who knows what. If we could just float along, like snow. That's what Zombieland is: frozen, calm, quiet. It's the world after a blizzard, the peacefulness that comes with it, the muffled silence and the sense that nothing in the world is moving. It's beautiful, in its own way. Maybe we'd be better off. But how could anyone who's ever seen a summer—big explosions of green and skies lit up electric with splashy sunsets, a riot of flowers and wind that smells like honey—pick the snow?" Only the inexorable vow of summer's return keeps us sane through winter's deep freeze, the end of verdant life and the washing out of the world to a dinge of white and gray. Spring and summer will come again after the most violent heartbreak, and it will be worth waiting to see those buds in new bloom, color and aroma so sweet we'll know the season for love has circled back around. We accept the good and bad of amor deliria nervosa because life is nothing without it, wherever the thrill ride takes us. It's why they call life the great adventure.
I don't recommend reading Delirium Stories without doing the trilogy first. These novellas are best understood in the context of the novels, filling in timeline gaps and adding perspective to the characters' actions. The quality of the stories is about the same as Requiem, and that's pretty high praise. I considered ranking "Hana", "Annabel", "Raven", and "Alex" from best to least, but they fit together so well it would almost be like ranking chapters in a novel. Delirium Stories should be viewed as a single book, a fount of wisdom and feeling that nicely complements the Delirium series. I thought about rating it two and a half stars because it's so dependent on readers knowing the trilogy, but I'll go with the full three. I'm going to miss this series, its characters, and the profound truths I absorbed from their story. Farewell, Delirium, and thank you, Lauren Oliver.
June 22, 2021
The story I was anticipating most (Annabel) was my least favorite. I was curious about her story but found it quite boring.
We don't learn much about Alex throughout this series even though he is an important character. This book explains what happened to him during book 2, Pandemonium, and we also get some backstory on him. If you didn't feel like you connected with Alex in the series, I highly recommend picking up this novella!
Raven and Tack were my favorite characters in the series! I loved getting to see more from them. I would read an entire series about the two of them! This short story was equal parts 😍 + 😭. Big thumbs up for this book! 👍
We don't learn much about Alex throughout this series even though he is an important character. This book explains what happened to him during book 2, Pandemonium, and we also get some backstory on him. If you didn't feel like you connected with Alex in the series, I highly recommend picking up this novella!
Raven and Tack were my favorite characters in the series! I loved getting to see more from them. I would read an entire series about the two of them! This short story was equal parts 😍 + 😭. Big thumbs up for this book! 👍
February 4, 2023
fajny dodatek do serii
April 3, 2022
These all have some major spoilers in them, so I wouldn't recommend reading them until after the other books.
Some happen alongside the main books, while others are backstories. Annabelle and Hana can probably be read after book one, but it's still probably better to leave it be. Alex has spoilers for book two and three. Raven has spoilers for book three, but also changes how some of book three plays out, so I don't even know if there is best way for that one.
Some happen alongside the main books, while others are backstories. Annabelle and Hana can probably be read after book one, but it's still probably better to leave it be. Alex has spoilers for book two and three. Raven has spoilers for book three, but also changes how some of book three plays out, so I don't even know if there is best way for that one.
October 12, 2018
Annabel: 2.5
Hana: 4
Raven: 3.5
Hana: 4
Raven: 3.5
April 19, 2015
Las historias cortas son lo de Lauren! En general me gustaron muchísimo, hubo algunas que mas que otras, pero ninguna me desagrado. Especificando:
Annabel: Esta historia me gusto un montón! Nos revela información que no sabíamos de la madre de Lena, cosas anteriores y durante Delirium. En Delirium se habla cobre la madre de Lena pero no se cuenta mucha cosa en especifico, y esta bueno que acá te revele mas. Es un personaje que me gusta bastante, porque siempre lucho porque lo que quería y por sus sentimientos, a pesar de todo. Ademas de que también vemos que en su época, era todo un poco mas distinto, las cosas eran como mas fáciles. Esta bueno el hecho de que nos cuente cosas de ahora, y de antes. Aunque me hubiese gustado saber mas sobre su relación con Conrad.
Hana: Bueno, en general Hana es un personaje con el cual siento mucha bipolaridad. En momentos me gustaba, pero en otros la odiaba. Una de las cosas que mas me gusto fue saber todo el tema de Steve, ya que era algo que nombraban en Delirium y Requiem, pero que nunca se había profundizado. Quería saber como sucedida todo, y lo supe! También esta interesante ver el otro lado de la historia cuando Lena y Hana se pelearon. Y cuando la emparejan a Hana con Fred, y toda la historia. Aunque ya había leído Requiem, y ya sabia la traición de Hana (y ya la presentía), leerlo acá me dio mas bronca. Es impresionante la envidia que tiene Hana hacia Lena, se nota que no es su amiga. Las amigas no hacen eso. En fin, me gusto la historia, pero en momentos me parecía aburrida, ademas como es de Hana, meh.
Raven OH MY GOD. Esta historia. La mejor. De todas. Definitivamente. A mi Raven fue un personaje que siempre me gusto, desde Pandemonium hasta Requiem. Su relación con Tack siempre fue algo que sabíamos que existía, pero no se sabría nada sobre esta. Me pareció hermoso que en esta historia se pudiera ver mas de fondo como se conocieron, como era su relación, etc. Simplemente hermoso. Aparte me pareció muy interesante que estuviera narrando el momento en el que van a salvar a Julian, y a su vez recordar cosas del pasado. Raven fue una persona también que no solía demostrar mucho sus sentimientos, y acá se ve como es ella, y todo lo que paso y vivió para que fuera así. NUNCA PERO NUNCA EN LA VIDA ME IMAGINE QUE . QUE MIERDA LAUREN¿¿ QUE MIERDA?? Estaría muy feliz si lo hubiera leído antes de Requiem. Me imaginaba a Raven, la pequeña Blue *llora* y Tack juntos, felices. PERO NO, YO YA HABÍA LEÍDO REQUIEM Y YA SABIA QUE Lauren, sos muy cruel, no podes ser tan malvada.
En fin, me gustaba que en cada historia corta había cada cosa que quedabas IMPAKTADA. Gracias Lauren por destrozar mi corazón en mil maneras distintas!
Annabel: Esta historia me gusto un montón! Nos revela información que no sabíamos de la madre de Lena, cosas anteriores y durante Delirium. En Delirium se habla cobre la madre de Lena pero no se cuenta mucha cosa en especifico, y esta bueno que acá te revele mas. Es un personaje que me gusta bastante, porque siempre lucho porque lo que quería y por sus sentimientos, a pesar de todo. Ademas de que también vemos que en su época, era todo un poco mas distinto, las cosas eran como mas fáciles. Esta bueno el hecho de que nos cuente cosas de ahora, y de antes. Aunque me hubiese gustado saber mas sobre su relación con Conrad.
Hana: Bueno, en general Hana es un personaje con el cual siento mucha bipolaridad. En momentos me gustaba, pero en otros la odiaba. Una de las cosas que mas me gusto fue saber todo el tema de Steve, ya que era algo que nombraban en Delirium y Requiem, pero que nunca se había profundizado. Quería saber como sucedida todo, y lo supe! También esta interesante ver el otro lado de la historia cuando Lena y Hana se pelearon. Y cuando la emparejan a Hana con Fred, y toda la historia. Aunque ya había leído Requiem, y ya sabia la traición de Hana (y ya la presentía), leerlo acá me dio mas bronca. Es impresionante la envidia que tiene Hana hacia Lena, se nota que no es su amiga. Las amigas no hacen eso. En fin, me gusto la historia, pero en momentos me parecía aburrida, ademas como es de Hana, meh.
Raven OH MY GOD. Esta historia. La mejor. De todas. Definitivamente. A mi Raven fue un personaje que siempre me gusto, desde Pandemonium hasta Requiem. Su relación con Tack siempre fue algo que sabíamos que existía, pero no se sabría nada sobre esta. Me pareció hermoso que en esta historia se pudiera ver mas de fondo como se conocieron, como era su relación, etc. Simplemente hermoso. Aparte me pareció muy interesante que estuviera narrando el momento en el que van a salvar a Julian, y a su vez recordar cosas del pasado. Raven fue una persona también que no solía demostrar mucho sus sentimientos, y acá se ve como es ella, y todo lo que paso y vivió para que fuera así. NUNCA PERO NUNCA EN LA VIDA ME IMAGINE QUE . QUE MIERDA LAUREN¿¿ QUE MIERDA?? Estaría muy feliz si lo hubiera leído antes de Requiem. Me imaginaba a Raven, la pequeña Blue *llora* y Tack juntos, felices. PERO NO, YO YA HABÍA LEÍDO REQUIEM Y YA SABIA QUE Lauren, sos muy cruel, no podes ser tan malvada.
En fin, me gustaba que en cada historia corta había cada cosa que quedabas IMPAKTADA. Gracias Lauren por destrozar mi corazón en mil maneras distintas!
January 6, 2023
8/10
Szczerze mówiąc, w głębi duszy liczyłam, że te opowiadania domkną otwarte zakończenie trzeciej części trylogii "Delirium". Niestety tak się nie stało. Mimo to, uważam, że ten dodatek był potrzebny, bo dzięki niemu mamy okazje poznać nieznane nam dotąd historie bohaterów.
Często tego typu dodatki są robione na siłę i są zbędne. W tym wypadku, zdecydowanie tak nie jest.
Polecam każdemu kto po przeczytaniu "Requiem", tak samo jak ja, czuł lekki niedosyt.
Szczerze mówiąc, w głębi duszy liczyłam, że te opowiadania domkną otwarte zakończenie trzeciej części trylogii "Delirium". Niestety tak się nie stało. Mimo to, uważam, że ten dodatek był potrzebny, bo dzięki niemu mamy okazje poznać nieznane nam dotąd historie bohaterów.
Często tego typu dodatki są robione na siłę i są zbędne. W tym wypadku, zdecydowanie tak nie jest.
Polecam każdemu kto po przeczytaniu "Requiem", tak samo jak ja, czuł lekki niedosyt.
April 11, 2017
4.5/5 stars
July 19, 2018
This came along with the series so I had to pick it up and it was okay. I don't really like Hana and Alex as charcaters so like their stories I didn't care for.
January 12, 2022
meh, quick read for goal.
i don’t care much for hana or annabel, but raven and alex were kinda cool. i don’t remember much from the original series but some of it was coming back to me
i don’t care much for hana or annabel, but raven and alex were kinda cool. i don’t remember much from the original series but some of it was coming back to me
March 25, 2020
(Reread)
Delirium Stories is a collection of three novellas, in a later edition, four, that are set before and during the events of the Delirium trilogy. It contains novellas from the perspectives of Hana, Lena’s best friend, Anabel, Lena’s mother, Raven, the leader of the rebel group Lena meets in the Wilds and Alex, Lena’s love interest in Delirium.
Hana
Hana is a novella that takes place during the events of Delirium, and is told through the perspective of Hana, Lena’s best friend. Set during the summer before both Lena and Hana are supposed to be cured, this novella takes a look at the moment the girls’ paths diverge and their futures are altered forever.
Having read this for the second time, I think it’s such an interesting novella that is so important in understanding Hana’s character throughout the first book. One of the things I loved most about Delirium was the friendship between Lena and Hana and how they both started off one way at the beginning of the novel and then had almost swapped places towards the end. Whereas Lena was abiding by the rules and Hana was rebelling, by the end, Lena is the one who rebels in the worst way, in her society’s eyes, by falling in love.
This novella helped me to understand Hana’s character, in that although she was so scared of conforming to her society’s beliefs and being controlled forever, she was also scared of rebelling and having her life changed. I think Hana wanted a small bit of freedom from her life but didn’t want to have to sacrifice any part of her comfortable life in the process. I think the end of this novella was definitely the most shocking, realising that it was in fact Hana who reported Lena and Alex and that she was the reason they were caught. I’d like to think that Hana regretted her actions and her passing a message onto Alex from Lena at the end of the first book is a sign that she was trying to make amends.
I think Lena was so much of a better friend towards Hana. When the raids were happening, her first thought wasn’t even about herself but of the fact that Hana was at an illegal party and had no idea that the raids were going on. Throughout the first book, she shows time and time again just how much she cares about Hana. In this novella, I got a look behind Hana’s character, in that she isn’t as confident as she portrays herself to be, that she needs Lena just as much as Lena needs her. But I also sympathise with Hana, seeing certain events through her eyes made me realise just how scared she was of being left behind by Lena, but also how jealousy made her act in the most bitter way. Lena found love, whereas Hana’s love interest wasn’t really interested in her the way she wanted. And I think all of that combined explained why Hana did what she did at the end.
Annabel
Annabel is a prequel novella to Delirium and is told through alternating chapters, describing how Annabel fell in love and then narrating the story of her escape from the Crypts.
Lena’s mother was always a source of interest in the first book for me, especially because she was such a big part of Lena’s past and her life and also because, as a character, we don’t actually know that much about her. But some of her secrets were finally revealed in this novella and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was interesting seeing Annabel at a young age, falling in love herself, and resisting the cure right from the very beginning, even when it was administered and she realised it hadn’t worked. I also liked the fact that Lena was always on Annabel’s mind, even whilst she was in the Crypts, because it really echoed Lena’s narrative in Delirium as she constantly thought about her mother. There were so many parallels between Lena’s story and Annabel’s because Lena also fell in love and risked everything to escape the cure.
Raven
Raven is a novella that takes place during the final moments of Pandemonium, and is told through the perspective of Raven. Alongside describing those events from her point of view, the novella also delves into Raven’s past, and her relationship with Tack.
I really, really enjoyed this novella, mostly because it showed a vulnerable side to Raven that we rarely get to see in the events of the main trilogy. I liked the background we got with her relationship with Tack and how they met and eventually fell in love. I also liked that we got to see the little things, like how much Lena actually means to Raven, and about how much Raven really cares about the people around her, those gone and those that are still there, like Blue.
Alex
Alex is a novella that takes place after the events of Delirium and is told from the perspective of Alex as he is captured and put into the Crypts.
This novella broke my heart because I genuinely love Alex so very much. The amount of pain he went through during his time in the Crypts just made me heartbroken because it really explains why he is such a different person when we meet him again in Requiem. But what made my heart warm was his thoughts about Lena, which I have always wanted to know, and how she was his hope, his motivation to escape. I just love these two characters so much.
Overall, Delirium Stories is such a necessary read to understand some of the other characters in the Delirium trilogy a little better. I absolutely love every single one of the characters in this series and that’s a testament to Lauren Oliver’s strength as a writer, to create such wonderful people that I can fall in love with time and time again.
Delirium Stories is a collection of three novellas, in a later edition, four, that are set before and during the events of the Delirium trilogy. It contains novellas from the perspectives of Hana, Lena’s best friend, Anabel, Lena’s mother, Raven, the leader of the rebel group Lena meets in the Wilds and Alex, Lena’s love interest in Delirium.
Hana
Hana is a novella that takes place during the events of Delirium, and is told through the perspective of Hana, Lena’s best friend. Set during the summer before both Lena and Hana are supposed to be cured, this novella takes a look at the moment the girls’ paths diverge and their futures are altered forever.
“I'm scared," I blurt. Only when I say it do I realize how true it is: Fear is strangling me, suffocating me. I don't know what's more terrifying: the fact that I will be found out, that I will be forced to go back to my normal life, or the possibility that I won't.”
Having read this for the second time, I think it’s such an interesting novella that is so important in understanding Hana’s character throughout the first book. One of the things I loved most about Delirium was the friendship between Lena and Hana and how they both started off one way at the beginning of the novel and then had almost swapped places towards the end. Whereas Lena was abiding by the rules and Hana was rebelling, by the end, Lena is the one who rebels in the worst way, in her society’s eyes, by falling in love.
“All this time, I thought we were growing apart because I was leaving Lena behind. But really it was the reverse. She was learning to lie.
She was learning to love.”
This novella helped me to understand Hana’s character, in that although she was so scared of conforming to her society’s beliefs and being controlled forever, she was also scared of rebelling and having her life changed. I think Hana wanted a small bit of freedom from her life but didn’t want to have to sacrifice any part of her comfortable life in the process. I think the end of this novella was definitely the most shocking, realising that it was in fact Hana who reported Lena and Alex and that she was the reason they were caught. I’d like to think that Hana regretted her actions and her passing a message onto Alex from Lena at the end of the first book is a sign that she was trying to make amends.
“I have Lena back again, but she is changed, and it seems that every day she grows a little more different, a little more distant, as though I am watching her walk down a darkening hallway.
I am happy for her. I am.
And sometimes, just before going to sleep, when I am at my most vulnerable, I am jealous.”
I think Lena was so much of a better friend towards Hana. When the raids were happening, her first thought wasn’t even about herself but of the fact that Hana was at an illegal party and had no idea that the raids were going on. Throughout the first book, she shows time and time again just how much she cares about Hana. In this novella, I got a look behind Hana’s character, in that she isn’t as confident as she portrays herself to be, that she needs Lena just as much as Lena needs her. But I also sympathise with Hana, seeing certain events through her eyes made me realise just how scared she was of being left behind by Lena, but also how jealousy made her act in the most bitter way. Lena found love, whereas Hana’s love interest wasn’t really interested in her the way she wanted. And I think all of that combined explained why Hana did what she did at the end.
Annabel
Annabel is a prequel novella to Delirium and is told through alternating chapters, describing how Annabel fell in love and then narrating the story of her escape from the Crypts.
“The dagger pin is all I have left. It is comfort and pain, both, because it reminds me of all I’ve had, held, and had taken from me.
It is my pen, too. With it, I write my story, again and again, in the walls. So I don’t forget. So it becomes real.
I think of: Conrad’s hands, Rachel’s dark hair, Lena’s rosebud mouth, how when she was an infant, I used to sneak into her bedroom and hold her while she slept. Lena lay still and warm in my arms, submerged in some secret dreamland.
And she was my secret: those nighttime hours, that twin heartbeat space, the darkness, the joy. All of this, I write. And so truth shall set me free.”
Lena’s mother was always a source of interest in the first book for me, especially because she was such a big part of Lena’s past and her life and also because, as a character, we don’t actually know that much about her. But some of her secrets were finally revealed in this novella and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was interesting seeing Annabel at a young age, falling in love herself, and resisting the cure right from the very beginning, even when it was administered and she realised it hadn’t worked. I also liked the fact that Lena was always on Annabel’s mind, even whilst she was in the Crypts, because it really echoed Lena’s narrative in Delirium as she constantly thought about her mother. There were so many parallels between Lena’s story and Annabel’s because Lena also fell in love and risked everything to escape the cure.
Raven
Raven is a novella that takes place during the final moments of Pandemonium, and is told through the perspective of Raven. Alongside describing those events from her point of view, the novella also delves into Raven’s past, and her relationship with Tack.
“Another thing I love about Tack: how careful he is. Meticulous, in some ways. And in others, totally free – quick to laugh, full of crazy ideas. Hardly anyone gets to see that side of him. How he speaks in a rush when he’s excited. How he likes to say the word love, over and over.
Love. I love you. I’ll always love you, my love. You are the love of my life.”
I really, really enjoyed this novella, mostly because it showed a vulnerable side to Raven that we rarely get to see in the events of the main trilogy. I liked the background we got with her relationship with Tack and how they met and eventually fell in love. I also liked that we got to see the little things, like how much Lena actually means to Raven, and about how much Raven really cares about the people around her, those gone and those that are still there, like Blue.
Alex
Alex is a novella that takes place after the events of Delirium and is told from the perspective of Alex as he is captured and put into the Crypts.
“And how she looked at me like I could save her from everything bad in the world. This was my secret: she was the one who saved me.”
This novella broke my heart because I genuinely love Alex so very much. The amount of pain he went through during his time in the Crypts just made me heartbroken because it really explains why he is such a different person when we meet him again in Requiem. But what made my heart warm was his thoughts about Lena, which I have always wanted to know, and how she was his hope, his motivation to escape. I just love these two characters so much.
Overall, Delirium Stories is such a necessary read to understand some of the other characters in the Delirium trilogy a little better. I absolutely love every single one of the characters in this series and that’s a testament to Lauren Oliver’s strength as a writer, to create such wonderful people that I can fall in love with time and time again.
May 23, 2024
This is a compilation of Novellas from the Delirium series! I enjoyed getting this extra insight and the surprise ending for Raven!
July 13, 2020
Check out my reviews on the main page of each individual book!
December 13, 2018
Still hate Hana.
August 6, 2018
Like most novellas, I didn't dislike this, but I did feel as though it's existence was entirely unnecessary.
I found Annabel's story the most interesting of the three, and I thought that Hana's was the most boring one. I really didn't learn anything new about her character.
I really like Raven as a character, and though her story gave more insight into her character, it was just pointless.
I feel like for me to love a novella, I have to be really REALLY invested in a ship involved, or I need significant information into world-building or character backstory. This means learning something I could not have guessed otherwise. This did none of those things for me.
I didn't hate these stories and I wasn't really bored when I read them, but novellas are just not for me.
(Yet I still read them every time. I will never learn!)
I found Annabel's story the most interesting of the three, and I thought that Hana's was the most boring one. I really didn't learn anything new about her character.
I really like Raven as a character, and though her story gave more insight into her character, it was just pointless.
I feel like for me to love a novella, I have to be really REALLY invested in a ship involved, or I need significant information into world-building or character backstory. This means learning something I could not have guessed otherwise. This did none of those things for me.
I didn't hate these stories and I wasn't really bored when I read them, but novellas are just not for me.
(Yet I still read them every time. I will never learn!)
February 9, 2026
"But how could anyone who’s ever seen a summer---big explosions of green and skies lit up electric with splashy sunsets, a riot of flowers and wind that smells like honey----pick the snow?"
i really liked this book, i think annabel is sooo interesting, raven is strong and alex is the loml, on the other hand hana is, different, idk w think about her but i think in the next book everything will be right (pls pls pls)
i really liked this book, i think annabel is sooo interesting, raven is strong and alex is the loml, on the other hand hana is, different, idk w think about her but i think in the next book everything will be right (pls pls pls)
September 27, 2018
I feel like these books left more to be desired.
They answered few questions if any.
But the stories were surprisingly good, and I feel like any of them could have been much longer without being boring.
They answered few questions if any.
But the stories were surprisingly good, and I feel like any of them could have been much longer without being boring.
January 2, 2018
Nice small addition to the series. I would probably have enjoyed it more if I had re read the series first as I read it a long time ago. But it was a pleasent read.
September 30, 2015
3.5 stars
i am reviewing this book by parts!
Hana
if i were to rate it as only one short story, i'll give it a star out of five. why?
hana's story was entirely unnecessary. why again? because in her short story, there was nothing new that i could discover. its just that the story is just some snippets of delirium in her POV. #boring
Annabel
5 stars
Annabel Halloway is a bad ass girl when she was in her adolescence. a rebel to be precise. she has this spirit where she never loses hope eventhough the world is continously trying to bring her down. she also taught me that; sometimes love doesnt need too much affection. its fine as long they are by your side, willingly.
SO MUCH FEELS!
Raven
3 stars
RAVEN. sigh. i was about to rate this 4 or more stars but the ending, i feel very furious towards her. damn. why raven? eventhough i despise raven's behaviour towards the end, i love to see tack and raven's relationship. shipping them so hard! #TaVen i cant deny she is very sincere in relationships in the beginning but what happened in the end made me changed my mind.
i am reviewing this book by parts!
Hana
if i were to rate it as only one short story, i'll give it a star out of five. why?
hana's story was entirely unnecessary. why again? because in her short story, there was nothing new that i could discover. its just that the story is just some snippets of delirium in her POV. #boring
Annabel
5 stars
Annabel Halloway is a bad ass girl when she was in her adolescence. a rebel to be precise. she has this spirit where she never loses hope eventhough the world is continously trying to bring her down. she also taught me that; sometimes love doesnt need too much affection. its fine as long they are by your side, willingly.
SO MUCH FEELS!
Raven
3 stars
RAVEN. sigh. i was about to rate this 4 or more stars but the ending, i feel very furious towards her. damn. why raven? eventhough i despise raven's behaviour towards the end, i love to see tack and raven's relationship. shipping them so hard! #TaVen i cant deny she is very sincere in relationships in the beginning but what happened in the end made me changed my mind.
June 5, 2013
I liked Hana's POV a lot. I have always loved her character! But I was also LOVING Annabel's POV. I would love to get some more information from her perspective, about her marriage to Conrad, about how she got involved with the resistance... She is an awesome character that gets way more developed in this novella, which was wonderful. Raven was okay. I honestly never really cared for her as a character. But the other two were great! And I've also read the novella "Alex" which was also very good. I actually liked this little collection better than the entire book of Requiem. It was reminiscent of the easy way that Delirium read, and Delirium was my favorite out of the three. If Lauren Oliver decides she wants to write more of these little treasures, I will jump at the chance to read them!
July 9, 2013
I enjoyed Anabel's POV the most, and found her voice to be the most authentic and accurate to what had been depicted about her character in Delirium and Pandemonium.
I didn't expect the twist in Hana's story but I like the way in which the author dealt with it, as well as the poetic and beautiful writing.
The let down of this novella, (as many seem to agree), is Raven's part. It was confusing and her story seemed all over the place. Hence, it brought down this entire novella as it was the last chapter and thus caused the book to leave a less than fantastic impression on readers despite Hana's and Anabel's chapters being well written.
I didn't expect the twist in Hana's story but I like the way in which the author dealt with it, as well as the poetic and beautiful writing.
The let down of this novella, (as many seem to agree), is Raven's part. It was confusing and her story seemed all over the place. Hence, it brought down this entire novella as it was the last chapter and thus caused the book to leave a less than fantastic impression on readers despite Hana's and Anabel's chapters being well written.
August 15, 2024
Trylogię tę czytałam kilka lat temu i wtedy bardzo mi się podobała. W końcu postanowiłam sięgnąć rownież po ten dodatek.
Trochę się bałam, że nie zrozumiem co i jak, bo jednak już kilka lat minęło odkąd przeczytałam trylogię, ale zaskoczyłam się tym, że sporo pamiętałam i wcale trudno nie było mi się odnaleźć.
Szkoda, że tak długo zwlekałam z jej przeczytaniem, bo pewnie więcej bym z niej wyciągnęłam. Mimo to fajnie było wrócić do tego świata i aż zachciałam przeczytać tę serię jeszcze raz.
Trochę się bałam, że nie zrozumiem co i jak, bo jednak już kilka lat minęło odkąd przeczytałam trylogię, ale zaskoczyłam się tym, że sporo pamiętałam i wcale trudno nie było mi się odnaleźć.
Szkoda, że tak długo zwlekałam z jej przeczytaniem, bo pewnie więcej bym z niej wyciągnęłam. Mimo to fajnie było wrócić do tego świata i aż zachciałam przeczytać tę serię jeszcze raz.
August 15, 2017
I only got this so I could read Raven's story as I have read the others online. I liked the story and it was interesting to get a more vulnerable side of Raven. Tack and Ravens relationship is so sweet and I love how they went back to their first kiss. When Raven said she was pregnant and she was gonna name the child Blue my heart ached because I'm pretty sure she dies in Requiem! And it's just sad how they'll never be happy together:(
3.6/5
3.6/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 10, 2022
czytanie tego było 10x większą frajdą niż czytanie requiem, serio
bardzo się cieszę, że te opowiadania powstały. rzucają nowe światło na całą trylogię, wprowadzają nowe wątki, o których nie wiedzieliśmy wcześniej, pozwalają zrozumieć motywację bohaterów.
historie alexa i raven 😭 moje biedne serce nie było na to przygotowane
bardzo się cieszę, że te opowiadania powstały. rzucają nowe światło na całą trylogię, wprowadzają nowe wątki, o których nie wiedzieliśmy wcześniej, pozwalają zrozumieć motywację bohaterów.
historie alexa i raven 😭 moje biedne serce nie było na to przygotowane
February 28, 2021
5 out of 10
ревью на русском/review in russian
These small stories made us look at the heroes of the trilogy with different eyes.
Hana. Hana had a choice, she made it, Lina had a choice, but Hana also made it for her. In general, I understand where the legs of her envy come from. In their friendship, she was always leading, she always wanted more, but her life was too comfortable to seriously think about changes (it’s like with a frog and slowly boiling water, until she realizes that it has become hot, she’s already cooked). Hana rebelled, ran to concerts and discos, listened to forbidden music, she even tried to involve Lina in all this, she wanted her friend to "taste" what made Hana's soul sing. Friends need this, otherwise, where does understanding come from, and with it - trust. And why, in fact, Hana violated "law and order"? She wanted love, she was afraid to catch delirium and at the same time yearned for it. Healing was inevitable, but she still had a chance to "breathe before death." And for a moment, she fought she got it, here it is - knees are shaking, palms are sweating, heart sinks. But her rose-colored glasses are broken exactly before Hana finds out that what she herself dreamed of, went to Lina, the one who didn't need it. Lina has a wound on her leg, Hana - in her heart. Lina is not to blame, and Hana is not to blame either. Circumstances, stars, fate. The wound on the leg heals up, the heart, on the contrary, is sprinkled with salt from time to time - during all these trio dates. On the one hand, Hana does a good deed, acting as a conspirator, and on the other hand, she waters and nourishes the envy, resentment, and jealousy that arose that morning when her aspirations remained behind an iron sheet in a dirty apartment, and Lina hit the jackpot. But all this doesn't in the least justify Hana's report on her best friend. Explains, but doesn't justify.
Annabel is Lina's mother if anyone has forgotten (I forgot, I had to figure it out in the course of the story)). Her family didn't give her warmth, Annabel tried to light a fire in her own, but everything burned out. In the first part, her name pops up in order to evoke pity, compassion, and sympathy. In the second, in addition to the name, the bearer herself appears, shakes off the noodles from her ears with a precise blow, and leaves in confusion. What was it? This moody woman and that airy-fairy that Lina now and then pulled from the bins of her memory are one person, or what? Understandably, the psychiatric hospital knows how to do such tricks, but Annabel reacted too dryly and distantly to the newfound blood. As it turned out, she has a very interesting past. I would love to read the full-length story of Lina's mother. I mean, her novella is the most interesting one in this collection. Her motives, feelings are revealed, the evolution of the character is done great. From a snotty rebel, she grew into a strong woman, woven by 11 years of imprisonment, the death of a loved one, separation from children, and participation in the resistance.
Raven. I didn't have much sympathy for her, but I respected her. Abuse in her own home, escape, finding Blue and losing Blue, cold, hunger, survival... love, but love can't cure everything. Then resistance straightened its shoulders and took aim. There was hope, a pretty house in the woods, children, and winter evenings by the fireplace didn't seem that impossible anymore. She had a good reason to fight. This reason also became my reason to cry. The death of Raven was a news ticker for me, I was distracted with something else in the main books. But that was back then. Now, I burst into tears, yeah.
Alex. I already forgot what he was like in the first book, the second part turned out to be so dynamic, Lina became "Alex", Julian became "Lina" from the first installment, and it suited me. Then Alex came back, I hailed and waved, but somehow it became annoying, I felt sorry for you, guy, but what have you forgotten here? He has changed, which is not surprising, but at the same time unpleasant. It's good that in the story, on behalf of Hana, the same boy from the first part flashed, and Alex's story also breathed a soul into that boy. He gave Lina a chance for a better life and, in general, life itself, got a bullet himself, and then was subjected to all kinds of humiliation and torture in the walls of the very cell from which Annabel escaped. At the same time, I constantly thought about Lina, wished her happiness and all kinds of blessings. True, all these "let him forget me and live on" crashed on the asphalt when he saw Lina and Julian. It's worthless to blame Alex for hypocrisy, but I can't blame Lina or Julian for how it came out either. Alex really had much deeper feelings for Lina than she had for him. And the final reunion looks like a picture torn into small pieces and then glued together. In general, I feel sorry for Alex too. Lina is not worthy of him.
Delirium (Делириум):
— Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel, and Raven (#0.5-#2.5)
— Delirium (Делириум) #1/3
— Pandemonium (Пандемониум) #2/3
— Requiem (Реквием) #3/3
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