Published: March 5, 2013
Pages: 391
Source: Bought
Rating: 3 Stars
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.
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.
This review is spoiler-free
In short: I was disappointed with the lack of closure in Requiem by Lauren Oliver, but I did like it overall.
For me, one of the most important factors in evaluating the overall satisfaction of the final book in a series is whether the major questions were answered and whether most loose ends are tied up by the series' close. On this point, Requiem kind of fails for me and I'm sorry to say that I agree with the majority reader opinion in not liking the ending as it stands. Some people may like the open-ended ending, as it allows them to form their own conclusions about the future of the characters and plot, but for me, I needed more resolution, especially for the love triangle. Where was my closure? I feel like we are owed that for sticking with the series to the end. Unnecessary epilogues annoy me, but I feel like this is one case where I really would have liked to have seen one.
And I'm sorry to say I wasn't in love with Lena's character in Requiem. I liked her quite courage and wilfulness in Delirium and I really loved her growth to a strong, mature person in Pandemonium, but I feel like she regressed a bit with two boys in the picture in Requiem. I really hate that she was stringing along one of the boys while actually liking the other one more. Oh, love triangles - why must you make assholes out of people? I didn't have any particular preference for either of the boys going into Requiem, but that doesn't mean that I didn't experience dissatisfaction with the outcome due to Lena's handling of the situation.
I don't mean to be so hard on Requiem because I did like it overall. I liked the action scenes and I liked the inclusion of Lena's ex-bestie Hana's point of view into the story as it provided an opposing viewpoint of the resistance. There were just the few faults outlined above that I found couldn't get past. Still, it is always such a treat for me to get to experience Lauren Oliver's writing. I have yet to be disappointed by it and count myself as a life long fan. Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adult - I will read whatever she has planned and am guaranteed to be blown away by her writing skills.
Previously, my reviews for Delirium and Pandemonium.
Other Reviews:
More Than Just Magic
Nori's Closet
Realm of Fiction
Authors Links:
Website
Blog
Goodreads
It does sound interesting thatt it's told from different viewpoints. I read your review of Delirium and while I don't know if I'll read Pandemonium or Requiem, I might as well try Delirium because I like the concept. I so have to read all of Lauren Oliver's with such a high recommendation!
ReplyDeleteThe problem you might have though is that Delirium ends on a massive cliffhanger! It would be hard not to want to continue out of curiosity. I do really recommend Lauren's books though!
DeleteI didn't even read your review, Aylee, since I have yet to read this one! I'm hoping next week I can get to it. That's too bad that it looks like you were middle-of-the-road with this book .... I am so sad this series is ending, but I do have high hopes for the finale. I guess we'll see!
ReplyDeleteUnderstood. I hope you ending up liking it more than I did!
DeleteAww, I have heard the same thing, and am scared to finish because I want a good sense of closure.
ReplyDeleteBrandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog
But if you never finish then you won't get even the slightest bit amount of closure!
Delete"Some people may like the open-ended ending, as it allows them to form their own conclusions about the future of the characters and plot, but for me, I needed more resolution, especially for the love triangle."
ReplyDeleteUh oh Aylee. I'm super nervous about this one! I am decidedly NOT one of those people who likes to draw their own conclusions, I want definitive answers when I reach the last page and a clear idea of where the characters are headed. I'm especially concerned that you didn't feel the love triangle was really resolved, that would be the one thing I would have expected closure on. I'm still going to read this, but I'm lowering my expectations for sure:)
I wish I could be one of those people, but I am not AT ALL. So this one really didn't work for me for that reason and if you're the same, then I fear it would be the same issue with you, for sure. It just killed me that we got no answers on the love triangle. I hope you get a bit more out of this one than I did, Jenny!
DeleteI didn't read your review too closely because I haven't read the second book yet. I thought Delirium was just okay and I'm still trying to decide whether I want to continue the series.
ReplyDeleteBTW...did you see all those clues Pottermore did the past week? I'm hoping the next chapters in POA will be up today or tomorrow.
I'm not too sure you would like Pandemonium then if you didn't like Delirium.
DeleteI did see the clues, though I admit that I am not following them too closely. I'm looking forward to finally finishing off PoA!
I have to agree - this one was disappointing. I have so many questions, and I'm amazed that Oliver would leave so many questions unanswered (especially for the last book in a trilogy). I loved Hana's POV, and agree about Lena.
ReplyDeleteNice honest review, Aylee!
I was surprised by the gall of that, as well. She must have known fans would be upset about that!
DeleteI don't mind open ended finales to a degree, but I think this one went a little too far with it. :( I agree, that it was still exciting and the action was great. But, yeah, the ending killed it a bit.
ReplyDelete~Sara @ Forever 17 Books
I do agree with that: some open endedness is fine. This one just took it too far, IMO.
DeleteI really like Lauren Oliver's books. I haven't read the Delirium series, but her middle-grade novels. Sorry to hear that the third-book disappointed you!
ReplyDeleteI love her MG stuff!
DeleteI think I came out liking this one a bit more than most people. I admit I would have liked some more resolution in the end but the whole story was about the fight for love, and I think Requiem really focussed on that fight so I was happy with it. I'm happy that you did enjoy this one overall though, great review!
ReplyDeleteI do like the way you put it. A fight for love. And so it was. Glad you liked this more than I did, Jenni!
DeleteI am actually in the minority with this book, I really loved how she ended it with the open-ending letting her readers guess about the future (in my mind her and Alex ran away together and are living happily). I do wish that a few of the storylines would have been fleshed out a little more though. It's nice to see the reviews that were not a fan of the ending though to see the difference. I loved Lena's growth throughout the series and this book really showed her difference I think. Great review!
ReplyDeleteWell, good I am glad that some people liked the ending! It's good that not everyone hated it like I did. It was just such a disappointment for me. But I did love Lena's growth over the course of the series for the most part.
DeleteI didn't start this series even though I had the first two books because of hearing about the killer cliffhanger endings.
ReplyDeleteI just can't stand love triangles and how they make people act as you pointed out so I know this is not the series for me.
I know a lot of people/authors like the open ending because real life is messy and often not resolved but for me I can't understand why I would follow these characters lives for three years if I don't find out what happened to them in the end.
Exactly. That's just how I felt. Like I had slogged through the entire series and got no reward in the end, just an unresolved ending. And blargh, damn you love triangles! I doubt this is the series for you either.
DeleteSeems like a lot of people were let down by this one...AND it seems lately that the 3rd book in a trilogy is almost always something of a letdown. I hope it's not the start of some kind of late trend o.O I still haven't even started my copy of Delirium! It's one of those that's been collecting dust on my bookshelf. I absolutely love Lauren Oliver's writing style but I am a bit weary of the series...but I still really want to check it out (and I will, soon!)
ReplyDeleteI almost didn't read your review till I saw it was spoiler-free! I love your honesty here & if anything it's encouraged me to read the series even more :) I feel better prepared as to what to expect and the fact that Oliver's writing style continued to impress is more than enough reason for me ;D Great review!
Oh, I sure hope that it isn't a trend! I couldn't take it. My expectations are always HIGHEST for the third book. So it hurts even worse when those expectations end up shattered. I do still recommend the series, but with some serious warnings.
DeleteAw, thanks for reading! And I'm glad to hear you got something out of my review. Here's hoping you are just as impressed by her writing in this series as I was!!
Sounds like this one had more of an open-ended conclusion, something that felt like maybe there still was a lot more story to tell. Too bad. I've not read the second book yet. I'm going to just be patient and wait for the prices to drop before I buy and read them - if I even do.
ReplyDeleteGood idea. Because if you're anything like me, you might be a bit unsatistfied with the last two.
DeleteI'm sorry it wasn't as good as you expected!!
ReplyDelete*hugs*
I didn't like Pandemonium all that much so I never continued with the series but I've heard that it doesn't really give closure and that always sucks in a series.
I'm someone who cannot just abandon a series part way through, so I felt I needed to stick it out. I thought I would at least get a satisfying ending for making it all the way through!
DeleteYeah, now that you mention it, I wasn't too pleased with Lena's development in this one. It wasn't the bet love triangle I've read. I did enjoy Hana's POV, though.
ReplyDeleteMost love triangles aren't great, but this one kind of made me angry. I missed the old Lena.
DeleteI have to admit I fall into the opposite camp. I liked the more open ending to the series. But I DO agree that Lena's strining a certain boy along really bugged me. So much could be solved with a simple conversation!
ReplyDeleteThat's good! I wish I could be more like that. SO MANY things can be fixed with a simple conversation!!
DeleteI am so nervous to start this, because I have a feeling I'm going to be disappointed. While I'm ok with an open ending if it's really well handled, I have to admit I'd hoped for more closure from this series. Sorry this ending disappointed you. I also loved Delirium, and like Pandemonium well enough, but not as much as book one. I think this is one of those series that is destined to have its best book always be its first. Lovely review, thanks for your honesty.
ReplyDeleteI was nervous about it going into it, as well, because I know people were dissatisfied with the ending. I had such hope in the beginning that every book would be as good as Delirium, so it was a let down. Overall though, I did like the series.
DeleteYou and I felt the same way about this book - and the whole series, in fact! I loved Delirium too (I think I even gave it 5 stars, which I don't do lightly!), but Pandemonium was only a 3 star read for me and Requiem followed in its footsteps. I blame the love triangle more than anything, but was also seriously disappointed with the lack of closure here. :(
ReplyDeleteThe love triangle was definitely a major source of frustration for me. It seemed unnecessary to introduce a new boy. But the lack of closure really killed it for me.
DeleteAw, I'm sorry you didn't like it as much as the first book. You outlined all the things I want in a series closer. I don't need a Harry Potter epilogue in every book (though I didn't mind that one, much as it was amusingly thorough), but I don't really like open-ended endings. And why do authors feel the need to add love triangles to everything? Do they ever work out well? It seems like they just frustrate readers and make the main character look bad.
ReplyDeleteNicely reviewed, Aylee. I stopped reading the books after the first one, but I've looked forward to reading your reviews for the whole series.
Heh yeah, I don't need a super thorough epilogue either. But I need some answers! I hope this love triangle trend dies soon. It does work maybe a very small minority of the time, but largely, it frustrates the crap out of me and makes the characters look bad. Thanks Small!!
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