“You have to understand. I am no one special. I am just a single girl. I am five feet two inches tall and I am in-between in every way.
But I have a secret. You can build walls all the way to the sky and I will find a way to fly above them. You can try to pin me down with a hundred arms, but I will find a way to resist…I love you. Remember. They cannot take it.”
(Pause)
Proverb 42 of “The Book of Shh” claims that “the most dangerous sicknesses are those that make us believe we are well.“
(Pause)
In a future post-dystopian America the disease Amor Deliria Nervosa has almost been eradicated. At the age of 18 every citizen is given a procedure to prevent the illness. Sure, some people succumb to the disease before their 18th birthday but after going through the procedure their time with the disease will be relegated to a hazy memory. Amor Deliria Nervosa i.e. Love, was the cause of all trouble in the world before they began to rid the population of the disease. Now there is little war, stress, mental illness, etc. all because no one loves anymore. Lena is counting the days till her procedure. She’s spent her life waiting to be rid of feelings, of the pain that led her mother to suicide. But life can’t be that simple…with only days to go Lena has been infected…and Alex is worth all the pain.
Review
It’s shocking to see how logical this seems. On the surface it would appear as if love causes just as much trouble as it does joy. How many violent acts are committed, both big and small, in the name of love? Would we be a more peaceful society without our stronger emotions? Remember without love, there is no hate. I guess the theory is that we’d end up living in some type of utopia…we’d also all walk around like we’d been lobotomized, or were psychopaths.
That ends up being the result of the operation. Either you walk around in a haze of neglect. Visiting family and friends only when you remember it’s appropriate. Feeling a connection to no one. Or you end up somewhat psycopathic…manipulating people with ease due to your lack of emotion. A lack of connection to anyone or anything. People in this society are able to hear a child cry and do nothing about it. A mother rocking her child receives dirty looks. It’s no way anyone would want to live if they knew the alternative…but I suppose without those emotions you wouldn’t know what you were missing.
Lena wishes for the cure because she’s spent her whole life under the memory of her mother committing suicide in the name of love. Lena doesn’t want emotions that could drive her to do something like that. In the beginning it’s her beautiful best friend Hana who toes the line, listening to forbidden music, sneaking out after curfew. But then Lena meets Alex, a member of the resistance. A man who is blending in with the monotony of society while working for the resistance. It takes Lena quite a bit of time before she gives into her feelings for Alex, though there is a definite spark from the beginning.
Her cousin Gracie ends up being one of Lena’s strongest supporters. Gracie is troubled by her own history, mute after the death of her mother, she and Lena share a bond that is only deepened as the novel goes on. I’m hoping that Gracie remains a part of the series, fleshing out her own story.
At times I found the plot of this story to move a little slow. Lena takes quite a while to build up enough guts (or emotion) to take the plunge. Granted, it’s a huge risk in this society to love someone. Punishments include an early cure operation, life in prison, or death. Up until this point Lena has been a perfect citizen so while I know logically it would take her time to risk love, I wished she would have moved a little quicker.
I liked Oliver’s society. YA does a ton of futuristic societies and it was kinda cool to see one limited by lack of emotions, most specifically love, rather than war or violence. It’s amazing to see how controlled the society was. There was a bit of “Big Brother is Watching” happening, but it seemed as if most people were simply content to live these very narrow lives. I will admit that the slowness of the plot did allow the evil or violent aspects of this society to appear slowly for the reader as well…A dog beaten during a raid, a child crying in the street, the utter abandonment of humanity. It was terrifying to see how tightly boxed in the members of this society were. Between all the rules that pop up (from the book of “shhh: the Safety Health and Happiness Handbook) within the text and at the start of every chapter, as well as the heat of summer that pervades the bulk of the novel. The reader soon feels like they’ll never have relief from the strain.
I’m not sure where Oliver is headed with the series. Because the control is based on an operation on your brain…literally removing the brain matter connected to these emotions…so it’s not the same format as other YA novels where the fight is against a corrupt society, or a war-like state. The members of this society have been changed, and I don’t know that they can be changed back. I’ll be disappointed if Oliver creates a way to give these people back their emotions. I think it would weaken the realism she has created within her novel.
In the end I liked this book. I didn’t love it…I think I was expecting more from it. I thought it was slow to start, but the characters ended up being very valiant, and the premise is extremely original. I’ll definitely be sticking around for book number 2. Since the plot finally has momentum, I hope Oliver continues the speed in the next book of the series.
Rating: 6/10
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