What's Going On Here?

There are SO MANY wonderful book review blogs out there and I can't compete with them, that is for sure. So this is not a book review blog. This is just a way for me to organize what I have read so that I can be better at matching the right book to the right person. The blog title comes from the brilliant mind of the most talented woman who ever lived, Ms. Judy Garland. The full quote is, "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of someone else." That is what I hope to do here and in ever aspect of my life.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Requiem for a Woman's Soul

was a book I read in high school about the torture of a woman in a police station in Argentina in the 1970s. It is horrific and awful but it made an impact on me, was part of my decision to give support to Amnesty International, out of my meager high school salary. It helped fuel my interest in human rights. It got negative reviews from the pompous Kirkus Review and the LA Times, but a good review from the New York Times. Whatever others say, it made a difference in my life.
Well that has nothing to do with Lauren Oliver's Requiem, the third book in the Delirium series. Though this book, too, gives one a ton think about.
The whole basis of this dystopian series is that love is considered a disease, a sickness and the government has developed a medical procedure that will cure it- leaving people just uncaring, but not unhappy, blah people.
The story is told from two POVs- Lena and Hana. One cured, one an Invalid, as they who live in The Wilds and as enemies of the state.
I loved this series and I loved this final book. I thought that it was a fair portrayal of both sides. Freedom comes with pain: love comes with hurt. When people are free to make their own choices, they can choose badly and cause a lot of pain. What is better? Is ignorance bliss? Or is there no way to be happy if you have never been sad.
Honestly I don't know what I would prefer. Isn't that terrible, I guess? Well I am being honest. What you don't know can't hurt you in some cases.
In any event, a fantastic ending to a remarkable series!

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