Monday, April 16, 2012

Hana by Lauren Oliver


Note: Slight spoilers for Delirium by Lauren Oliver follow.

It seems to be as you read Delirium that Hana and Lena and foils for each other. (Yes, I did just bust out some high school English terminology. In short, they are opposite characters.) In the beginning, Hana is the one that is listening to music and sneaking away to parties, and Lena is terrified. In fact, it is Hana that takes Lena to a party where she sees Alex. While Lena is freaking out, Hana is having reckless fun. Yet at the end of Delirium, it is Lena who has caught the disease and decides to run away, while Hana decides to get the cure. We follow Lena's journey in Delirium, so we know how she came to her decision. But what about Hana?

The novella Hana which Lauren Oliver recently released answers this question. It's a short, quick read (and only $3 on Amazon!) We follow Hana through the summer, see her sneaking out to several parties and even having a fling of her own with a boy named Steve. Through it all, we get to learn Hana's feelings about her family situation and future husband, as well as her reaction to learning about Lena and Alex.

I enjoyed it. Like everyone else, the cliffhanger ending left me with my mouth open. I literally had to re-read it about 4 times before I accepted it. And then I had to give myself a day or so of thinking about to understand it. But I do understand how it came to end the way it did. And it's sad, but realistic and honest.

Our reviews of the Delirium trilogy:
Delirium
Pandemonium

1 comment :

  1. Great Review Flo. Really??? A cliff hanger even in this book. I can't wait to see what that is all about.

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