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When you read or watched the Hunger Games, or the Divergent series, there was a reason for the teenage girl to be at the center of attention. At first there wasn’t, and then it made sense that they were at the center of a revolution. Katniss Everdeen was the face of her revolution and Tris is one of a few Divergents that we focus on. They are leaders and we follow them through their stories.

With the Delirium series I honestly can’t decide where this story is going. I have been so tempted to look up the wiki, but I’ve managed to control myself so far. Why do I care about this girl? Is she just the main character? Why is she important? It’s like I’m following around a normal person and seeing what they do in the midst of all this pandemonium. And while we’re on the subject, can we talk about that title? I spend at least 30% of this book with two teenagers in a sewer and 30% trudging through the snow or hiding underground so I feel like we could have found another over-dramatic fancy word to call this middle child of a confused marriage.

The book vacillates between then and now and I’m not sure that it serves any useful purpose. Usually the past and present in books go back and forth to lead to a common destination which feels purposeful. That is not the case here. Just make a part 1 and part 2 of the book and give me some damn continuity.

I am not sure what I am supposed to care about. Finding her mom? Her loss of Alex? Her sewer/neck-breathing Julian relationship? The revolution? The first book had a clear main character, a clear conflict, and a purpose and end we were rooting for. This second book was like boring, plain oatmeal that had one or two clumps of brown sugar or a raisin that gave you hope that maybe we were heading someplace but really it was just more bland oatmeal.

I won’t tell you the ending, because you already know if you’ve been reading the book. You already fucking know what’s going to happen. The book basically prepares you for it the entire way, and then it happens and you’re just like…ugh, seriously? It’s not so much a cliffhanger as it is a warning that while you have been blissfully safe from teenage angst until now (somehow!), you will have to suffer through the planned angst as well as the angst you have been avoiding all along.

Look, I’m going to read the third book because it can’t be worse than this book, and if it is I’ll still read it and write about it. And I think if you continue reading through with me, it’s probably for the same reason I still watch Once Upon a Time. It’s going to get better, right? The idea is cool and the characters have potential, so it’s going to get better at some point, right? Hope is a dangerous thing, and often drags us through some terrible stuff. This book wasn’t terrible, but I was dragged through it and I truly am hopeful the third book delivers.

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