Brief reviews: Delirium; The Lace Reader

Delirium by Lauren Oliver, narrated by Sara Drew, YA, 2011, audio CD, 11.5hrs, rating=2

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love. (Goodreads)

This is awful to say but the voice of the narrator helped to kill this for me!  I'm not sure how to describe her voice.  It was appropriately young but almost shrill to me and the change in intonation for drama was equally annoying.  But I endured the 11.5hrs.  Sorry, Ms Drew, it's just my ear ...nothing personal on you. 

Anyway, this book was just so-so for me.  Another dystopian world story, but this time taking out love in the equation.  That was an interesting lure.  Unfortunately, it lacked.  The Giver is my kind of dystopia.  However, there were evidence of excellent writing.  And, whoa, that ending!!

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry, narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan, AF, 2006/2008, audio Playaway, 11.75hrs, rating=1 (couldn't find actual cover image, so I picked a pretty one :) )

Every gift has a price . . . Every piece of lace has a secret . . .

My name is Towner Whitney. No, That's not exactly true. My real first name is Sophya. Never believe me. I lie all the time . . .

Towner Whitney, the self-confessed unreliable narrator of The Lace Reader, hails from a family of Salem women who can read the future in the patterns in lace, and who have guarded a history of secrets going back generations, but the disappearance of two women brings Towner home to Salem and the truth about the death of her twin sister to light. The Lace Reader is a mesmerizing tale that spirals into a world of secrets, confused identities, lies, and half-truths in which the reader quickly finds it's nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction, but as Towner Whitney points out early on in the novel, "There are no accidents." (Goodreads)

Lots of things were going on in this book ... clairvoyance, abuse, psychosis, suspense, mind games, and a dash of romance.  The craziness of the characters and storyline got me wiggy in the head as well.  So many unanswered questions and mess!  Some foul language didn't serve well in my ears too.  Anyway, I understand that this has a "Fight Club" tone, so if you like that movie this might be the book for you.  I personally haven't seen the movie so I can't tell you which parts were similar.  ~On a good note, Ms Bresnahan did a great job narrating.