Post by kait on Jan 22, 2012 12:20:19 GMT -5
We're back with the third installment of our Delirium Book Club read-along! Check out the chapters, discuss, and have a gif party with us in this post! ENJOY!
CHAPTER ELEVEN begins with a big reveal!
"Here is a secret about my family: My sister contracted the deliria several months before her scheduled procedure."
Color us surprised! Here deliria is supposed to be some rare, awful disease, but it looks like there are quite a few uncured contracting it! We wonder how many uncureds REALLY catch the disease, but have it hushed up by their families to avoid the shame?
Turns out Rachel dated and had her heart broken by a boy named Thomas, was dragged to her procedure kicking and screaming (literally!), but then completely forgot all feelings for him after. In fact, she and her husband and quite friendly with Thomas and his wife, in a feelingless, robotic sort of way!
In the meanwhile, Lena is completely paranoid that she's contracted the deliria after her last talk with Alex. For weeks, she keeps to herself, obeys curfew diligently, helps Gracie in school, and carefully does everything to boost her physical health, including running. That is, until he day she dares to run past the Governor statue and finds a note from Alex inside.
"Lena,
I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.
Alex"
Straight and to the point, but enough to drive Lena nuts. She becomes more determined to fit into her society. So when her evaluations come, she gives them all the answers she knows they want to hear, even if they're not her true thoughts. She passes with flying colors, of course.
Approved Matches come next! Lena ends up with Brian Schraff, whose description fits that of the average 40-year-old dad in the modern world. Not exactly what a sharp teen like Lena is looking for!
Lena has her first confrontation since Roaring Brook Farms with Hana in CHAPTER TWELVE. Turns out Aunt Carol hasn't been giving Lena the messages that Hana's been leaving her, thus keeping them apart.
In the meantime, Hana passed her evaluations and got matched with THE MAYOR'S SON. In a place where each city is an extremely powerful entity, that will make her part of the most powerful family in town! NBD!
Lena has a sad realization about her and Hana as they walk in awkward silence, remembering their years of friendship:
"In two years-- in two months-- Hana and I will pass each other on the streets with nothing more than a nod-- different people, different worlds..."
Lena tries to make plans with Hana that night, but it turns out Hana is going to ANOTHER secret event, this time with a girl she used to hate in high school. Lena is instantly peeved and even though Hana invites her too, she refuses to go.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN starts with an innocent family dinner, but goes to hell with the sound of a bullhorn.
It turns out Lena's government does regular RAIDS where regulators force their way into everyone's homes to check our their identification papers and look for any signs of disease or rebellion.
"We've all heard horror stories: pregnant women stripped down and probed in front of everybody, people thrown in jail for two or three years just for looking at a policeman that wrong way..."
Oh, and then one of the raiders beats the neighbor's dog to death because it's barking at him.
What's worse, of course, is that Hana is out at an illegal party, completely unaware that there is a raid going on. If she's caught, she'll be thrown in jail, probably for life. Lena does the only thing she can think to do: Sneaks out to save the day!
Except.. you know... she's on a bicycle. Still, it's a relief to have the old, questioning, curious Lena back!
Lena successfully manages to avoid the raiding parties and make it across town. The party is JUMPIN' when she gets there, but before she can quietly find Hana and run for safety, a raiding squad bursts through the door. They've got attack dogs and clubs at the ready!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN is the immediate fallout as everyone at the party dissolves into a mess of pushing, kicking, screaming maniacs fighting their way to the exits and away from the raiding party as fast as they can, turning on each other as if they didn't just share a common bond moments before.
"..As I run I hear the thud of their clubs, the mangled sound of screaming. Animals, I think. We're animals."
Lena is just feet from the safety of the backyard and the woods beyond when a regulator sets his sights on her and his dog sinks his teeth into her calf. If you've ever been bit by a dog, then you know... EFFING OWWWWW THAT HURT!
Just before Lena gets her death blow, she's pulled outside by someone hidden in the shadows.
"A second later Alex follows soundlessly, materializing beside me in the dark."
ALEX! Okay, we missed him! We're not gonna lie!
Alex takes Lena into an old camouflaged shed, complete with blankets covered in pee to throw off the raiding dogs where he begins to nurse her REALLY nasty wound. He's a futuristic, anti-government Boy Scout, apparently!
In a bit of a stereotypical moment, Alex must remove his shirt and rip it into strips to bandage Lena's leg. The shed has everything to heal wounds except real bandages, apparently! However, it is a big, shocking moment for Lena, whose society doesn't often allow her to see men without shirts on.
While they remain in the shed with Lena is in a half-crazed state, Alex takes the time to fully explain himself to Lena. He came to Portland as part of the resistance at age ten, but he was pretty much an angry child who didn't offer much to their efforts. He hated everyone in Portland until the day he saw Lena.
"Everyone is asleep. They've been asleep for years. You seemed... awake. I'm tired of sleeping."
Lena begins to feel the signs of emotion growing and immediately tries to fight it. After Lena explains that what society tells her is all she longs for because it's all she knows, Alex shows her the other side of things with a kiss.
"This is what I want. This is the only thing I've ever wanted. Everything else-- every single second of every single day that has come before this very moment, this kiss-- has meant nothing."
In CHAPTER FIFTEEN, Lena not only displays the signs of deliria, she welcomes them as she eagerly anticipates seeing Alex after her shift at her uncle's grocery store. That is, until Alex walks in.
It's amazing that even being in the same store or on the same street with each other sends such a dangerous thrill through them. Lena tells Alex to sneak into the back door of the shop just before telling her supervisor that she needs to do some restocking in that back room.
There's a knock on the door, but when Lena opens it, it's not Alex. It's Hana.
WELL THAT PLAN BACKFIRED! Hana has come to tell Lena how sorry she is for disobeying the rules and beg for forgiveness, while Lena is breaking the biggest rule there is by having feelings of a boy. Hana is crying her eyes out, thinking herself to be a horrible person, when Alex finally knocks on the door.
"Hana's mouth literally falls open. She whips around from Alex to me and then back to Alex, so quickly it looks like her head is going to fly off her neck ... 'Lena Ella Halloway Tiddle,' she says. 'You have some explaining to do.'"
We love Hana. Even if that quote does remind us of I Love Lucy!
Lena tells Hana everything and surprisingly, Hana is really cool with it. We guess she has to be, given all the illegal things she's been doing too. But do two wrongs make a right? Apparently so!
The three of them get a scare when Lena's supervisor opens up the door to the store room and finds himself only INCHES away from Alex, hidden on the other side of the door. In that moment, a silent pact is formed.
"It's crazy. It's stupid. It's dangerous. But somehow, standing in the sweltering storeroom surrounded by boxes of mac n' cheese and canned beets and baby powder, the three of us have become a team."
What will this highly illegal new team be up to next? We'll find out next week in Chapters 16 - 20!
CHAPTER ELEVEN begins with a big reveal!
"Here is a secret about my family: My sister contracted the deliria several months before her scheduled procedure."
Color us surprised! Here deliria is supposed to be some rare, awful disease, but it looks like there are quite a few uncured contracting it! We wonder how many uncureds REALLY catch the disease, but have it hushed up by their families to avoid the shame?
Turns out Rachel dated and had her heart broken by a boy named Thomas, was dragged to her procedure kicking and screaming (literally!), but then completely forgot all feelings for him after. In fact, she and her husband and quite friendly with Thomas and his wife, in a feelingless, robotic sort of way!
In the meanwhile, Lena is completely paranoid that she's contracted the deliria after her last talk with Alex. For weeks, she keeps to herself, obeys curfew diligently, helps Gracie in school, and carefully does everything to boost her physical health, including running. That is, until he day she dares to run past the Governor statue and finds a note from Alex inside.
"Lena,
I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.
Alex"
Straight and to the point, but enough to drive Lena nuts. She becomes more determined to fit into her society. So when her evaluations come, she gives them all the answers she knows they want to hear, even if they're not her true thoughts. She passes with flying colors, of course.
Approved Matches come next! Lena ends up with Brian Schraff, whose description fits that of the average 40-year-old dad in the modern world. Not exactly what a sharp teen like Lena is looking for!
Lena has her first confrontation since Roaring Brook Farms with Hana in CHAPTER TWELVE. Turns out Aunt Carol hasn't been giving Lena the messages that Hana's been leaving her, thus keeping them apart.
In the meantime, Hana passed her evaluations and got matched with THE MAYOR'S SON. In a place where each city is an extremely powerful entity, that will make her part of the most powerful family in town! NBD!
Lena has a sad realization about her and Hana as they walk in awkward silence, remembering their years of friendship:
"In two years-- in two months-- Hana and I will pass each other on the streets with nothing more than a nod-- different people, different worlds..."
Lena tries to make plans with Hana that night, but it turns out Hana is going to ANOTHER secret event, this time with a girl she used to hate in high school. Lena is instantly peeved and even though Hana invites her too, she refuses to go.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN starts with an innocent family dinner, but goes to hell with the sound of a bullhorn.
It turns out Lena's government does regular RAIDS where regulators force their way into everyone's homes to check our their identification papers and look for any signs of disease or rebellion.
"We've all heard horror stories: pregnant women stripped down and probed in front of everybody, people thrown in jail for two or three years just for looking at a policeman that wrong way..."
Oh, and then one of the raiders beats the neighbor's dog to death because it's barking at him.
What's worse, of course, is that Hana is out at an illegal party, completely unaware that there is a raid going on. If she's caught, she'll be thrown in jail, probably for life. Lena does the only thing she can think to do: Sneaks out to save the day!
Except.. you know... she's on a bicycle. Still, it's a relief to have the old, questioning, curious Lena back!
Lena successfully manages to avoid the raiding parties and make it across town. The party is JUMPIN' when she gets there, but before she can quietly find Hana and run for safety, a raiding squad bursts through the door. They've got attack dogs and clubs at the ready!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN is the immediate fallout as everyone at the party dissolves into a mess of pushing, kicking, screaming maniacs fighting their way to the exits and away from the raiding party as fast as they can, turning on each other as if they didn't just share a common bond moments before.
"..As I run I hear the thud of their clubs, the mangled sound of screaming. Animals, I think. We're animals."
Lena is just feet from the safety of the backyard and the woods beyond when a regulator sets his sights on her and his dog sinks his teeth into her calf. If you've ever been bit by a dog, then you know... EFFING OWWWWW THAT HURT!
Just before Lena gets her death blow, she's pulled outside by someone hidden in the shadows.
"A second later Alex follows soundlessly, materializing beside me in the dark."
ALEX! Okay, we missed him! We're not gonna lie!
Alex takes Lena into an old camouflaged shed, complete with blankets covered in pee to throw off the raiding dogs where he begins to nurse her REALLY nasty wound. He's a futuristic, anti-government Boy Scout, apparently!
In a bit of a stereotypical moment, Alex must remove his shirt and rip it into strips to bandage Lena's leg. The shed has everything to heal wounds except real bandages, apparently! However, it is a big, shocking moment for Lena, whose society doesn't often allow her to see men without shirts on.
While they remain in the shed with Lena is in a half-crazed state, Alex takes the time to fully explain himself to Lena. He came to Portland as part of the resistance at age ten, but he was pretty much an angry child who didn't offer much to their efforts. He hated everyone in Portland until the day he saw Lena.
"Everyone is asleep. They've been asleep for years. You seemed... awake. I'm tired of sleeping."
Lena begins to feel the signs of emotion growing and immediately tries to fight it. After Lena explains that what society tells her is all she longs for because it's all she knows, Alex shows her the other side of things with a kiss.
"This is what I want. This is the only thing I've ever wanted. Everything else-- every single second of every single day that has come before this very moment, this kiss-- has meant nothing."
In CHAPTER FIFTEEN, Lena not only displays the signs of deliria, she welcomes them as she eagerly anticipates seeing Alex after her shift at her uncle's grocery store. That is, until Alex walks in.
It's amazing that even being in the same store or on the same street with each other sends such a dangerous thrill through them. Lena tells Alex to sneak into the back door of the shop just before telling her supervisor that she needs to do some restocking in that back room.
There's a knock on the door, but when Lena opens it, it's not Alex. It's Hana.
WELL THAT PLAN BACKFIRED! Hana has come to tell Lena how sorry she is for disobeying the rules and beg for forgiveness, while Lena is breaking the biggest rule there is by having feelings of a boy. Hana is crying her eyes out, thinking herself to be a horrible person, when Alex finally knocks on the door.
"Hana's mouth literally falls open. She whips around from Alex to me and then back to Alex, so quickly it looks like her head is going to fly off her neck ... 'Lena Ella Halloway Tiddle,' she says. 'You have some explaining to do.'"
We love Hana. Even if that quote does remind us of I Love Lucy!
Lena tells Hana everything and surprisingly, Hana is really cool with it. We guess she has to be, given all the illegal things she's been doing too. But do two wrongs make a right? Apparently so!
The three of them get a scare when Lena's supervisor opens up the door to the store room and finds himself only INCHES away from Alex, hidden on the other side of the door. In that moment, a silent pact is formed.
"It's crazy. It's stupid. It's dangerous. But somehow, standing in the sweltering storeroom surrounded by boxes of mac n' cheese and canned beets and baby powder, the three of us have become a team."
What will this highly illegal new team be up to next? We'll find out next week in Chapters 16 - 20!