In Lena's world, love is considered a disease - deliria. Her mother was afflicted with it and she killed herself - her last words to Lena were "I love you" - which, of course, are forbidden words. There is a cure for the deliria, though - and Lena is only months away from finally getting it. For some reason, you have to be 18 to get the cure. Anyway, she seems a little sad that she and her best friend won't have the same relationship anymore after they have been cured (because all their feelings will be deadened), but she is still looking forward to being safe from the deliria. After all, the cure makes the world a better place - peaceful...orderly...everyone is content. In this society, once you are tested/interviewed (pre-cure), you are given a future profession and a list of potential spouses - choose one, get cured, get married, have children, do your job, and live contentedly ever after. Of course, if this story really went down like that, it would have been awfully boring. And it isn't. And it doesn't happen like that at all. First of all, Lena meets a boy. Alex. Sparks fly. Could she be stricken with the dreaded deliria? Whatever will she choose to do? I could tell you...but I'm not going to. (insert evil/cheesy grin here)

Alex is a little too perfect, which was a little annoying. The potential spouse on Lena's list is a little too much the opposite of Alex, which doesn't make for any tension at all. Lena's friend is an interesting character - their friendship is written well. The aunt Lena lives with, Lena's sister, and the little girl who lives with Lena and her aunt and uncle are also good secondary characters. Lena waxes very, very, very poetic about her feelings sometimes - and since this is written in first person, I found myself thinking, "Really? Who talks like that?" But then again, this is a character who has never really been cared for or loved (well, since her mother's suicide when she was much younger), so all these new feelings would probably seem huge...overwhelming even...so, in retrospect, I guess her reactions to her feelings were probably pretty spot-on.

And then...there's the plot twist near the ending and the ending itself... Well, I can't give that away either, but I'll be purchasing the sequel. No doubt. ( )

I can't do it. I read about 1/3 of the book and I can't continue. Perhaps I'll pick it up again and try to read it another time, when I'm desperate for something to read. The story, in a word, sucks. The only thing I am happy about is the fact that I caught this on discount and only paid $2.99 for it.

so good...

so good...

Second book I have enjoyed by this author. She has a way of being able to capture emotion and put it into words very accurately and beautifully. Excited to read the next in series! ( )