My Intellectual Blog by Serena Claire https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e Made with smiles ;) en-us 2018-09-04 15:41:53 UTC 2019-01-08 16:00:54 UTC hello@padlet.com 9/9/18- My First Blog:Delirium by Lauren Oliver Serena_Claire https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/279238773 I have chosen the book Delirium. It is a dystopian novel about a society that has invented a procedure that cures people of love. I chose this book because I love dystopian novels and I was hooked as soon as my teacher gave me a description of the book. I have liked the level of intellectuality because it matches my intellectual level quite well. I like how the book explores what the world could be like without love. Love causes pain for many people to the point that some wished to not ever experience it. This book exhibits if that scenario were to become true and all the ways it would damage society further than mankind with the capability of love. Personally, I am a bit of a sucker for a good romance story, so it is a bit frustrating to read this story with extreme limits on love for the first several chapters. The other dystopian books I’ve read usually also tend to have limits on love and relationships in attempt to create a utopian society. This is true for The Giver. However, some of my other favorite dystopian books dealt with restricted or messed up systems of society, but not always manipulating love relationships. These books include The Testing Trilogy and Unwind. I prefer those books, personally, because they deal with challenging external stories. This book is very intriguing, yet it mostly focuses on internal struggles. Overall, at my point in the book I am hooked on this story of limited love. 

]]> 2018-09-10 02:21:54 UTC https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/279238773 9/16/18- Blog #2: Delirium by Lauren Oliver Serena_Claire https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/282080369 Connection: This book reminds me of the major historically political restrictions on gay rights. In the book, there is extreme cautions to prevent any sort of love between people established by the government. Even though in the US it can feel like gay rights are now granted so easily, gay marriage was only legalized 3 years ago in the US. In other major countries, they are even more behind than the US. Australia just legalized gay marriage last year, it is not yet recognized in Northern Ireland, Korea banned gay marriage, and that’s not even close to the worst of it. Many third-world countries still arrest or even kill people if they are homosexual. The book isn’t against love in just a political sense, but a moral sense among the society as well. An underground group of people begin to grow with an opposed opinion to the majority of society and believe that love is not a sickness. This is also very similar to the growth of gay rights. 50 years ago, nobody muttered a word about homosexuals. They were seen as mentally sick. If a gay individual came to light, their families and communities would try to change them or in their words, “cure them,” through abusive camps, prayer, electrotherapy, or any traumatizing act possible. In this book, if a citizen is caught showing any feelings of love or sympathy, they are shamed, taken to labs against their will, operated on, and anything possible to try to change them. In our society, more minority rights were recognized, gay’s rights were as well. In the 80s, gay nightclubs became a huge movement; they were a place for the underground people to slowly accept themselves, accept each other, realize that their identity shouldn’t be something to be hidden or ashamed of, and spread their message of equality to the rest of society.]]> 2018-09-17 02:15:01 UTC https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/282080369 9/23/18- Blog #3: Delirium by Lauren Oliver Serena_Claire https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/284839812  
At the point of the book that I am at, I really hope the main character changes her views on the world and society. Right now, she believes that contact between opposite genders is wrong, that relationships are wrong, that sympathy is wrong, that love is wrong. It is quite infuriating to read the story from a viewpoint that I, as a reader, completely disagree with. I predict she will learn that her whole way of life is built around fear. She will learn that love is what keeps people in good relationships with everyone one can know. Good relationships are what keep people happy, help people grow, and maintain good mental health. I hope she learns that taking risks are what enable growth. I predict she will take more risks. I predict she becomes more accepting to people rebelling against the current government system. I predict she will become one of those people. I hope she doesn’t see opposite genders interacting, understanding each other, and loving each other as dangerous but as living a healthier and happier life style. Right now, she is terrified of the underground group in society, not only disagreeing with, but breaking the most enforced laws. Laws that restrict interaction between opposite sexes, curfew, and music that citizens can listen to I believe take away human rights and should be protested for the sake of humanity. I predict she will become one citizen of many that expand and louden their protest towards the government. I have no idea how that is going to happen though. 

]]> 2018-09-24 02:42:24 UTC https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/284839812 9/30/18-Blog #4: Delirium by Lauren Oliver Serena_Claire https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/287420475 This book is really starting to represent the insecurity some people feel when it comes to love. In the book, the main character, Lena literally runs away when she finds out a boy has feelings for her. The fear she has been taught to have is the same fear people who have been hurt by love in their own lives develop through first person experiences. For many people, they are terrified of catching feelings for someone because they have been hurt. They could have been hurt by a one-sided love in their past, an abusive relationship, or any other countless ways someone could have been hurt by love. Some people actually have the urge to literally run away from their feelings, the same as Lena did. In our society, love is free, accepted, embraced, however it is still known to be scary, dangerous, and risky. So many people build the same walls as Lena has in attempt to not get hurt  by love. 

]]> 2018-10-01 02:40:42 UTC https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/287420475 10/20/18-Blog #5: Delirium by Lauren Oliver Serena_Claire https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/296178876 At the place that I am at in this book, I am the most invested than at any other part. The main character having to deal with her emotions of love, longing, hurting, and regret are all things I have experienced in relationships. However, it does not pull at my heart as hard as it would if I was currently dealing with those specific romantic emotions. As someone who has been in committed relationships before, and who has dealt with a painful breakup, I can relate to all the thoughts and feeling the main character is battling. This book may seem ridiculous to someone who has never personally been in a serious relationship. As a girl who has, I can comprehend the meaning within each of the details, both big and small. I feel sympathy for Lena to the point of wanting to hug her, tell her I know it feels like someone has stabbed all her guts out, and it may seem impossible, but it will get better. I anticipate how much the pain of love will hurt her for knowing of it myself. I also hope she doesn’t despise the idea of love when she feels the pain for knowing that is what I have done. I really recommend this book to those who have experienced love and heart break. Those who read this book that are whilst experiencing those things in their own lives are the ones who will need a box of tissues to accompany them while reading this book.]]> 2018-10-23 20:04:21 UTC https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/296178876 10/28/18-Blog #6: Delirium by Lauren Oliver Serena_Claire https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/297856130 At the place that I am currently at in the book, I am very excited for the story line. In most love stories, I enjoy complexity to it. So far, there has been a good level of plot twists, but nothing too unpredictable. I am impressed and excited for the plot twist that has just occurred as well as more to come in the rest of the book. There isn’t a huge percentage of the book left. I appreciate the romance, it includes more insight to the main character’s personal and overall deep feelings as opposed to immediate physical feelings of lust or excitement that is usual of occurrence in romance novels. This makes it more realistic for readers to relate to the romance whereas other stories of lust, heat, and fluff are only a fantasy. This story includes all the sides of love: lust, loneliness, sadness, anger, happiness, and confusion. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance with a sense of struggle (towards society) and complexity. 

]]> 2018-10-29 02:46:57 UTC https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/297856130 11/4/18-Blog #7: Delirium by Lauren Oliver Serena_Claire https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/300306068 I have finished Delirium and am writing my final report on it. My overall thoughts on this book is that it paints a heartbreakingly clear view of what life is like when the love you have is hated. The book shows a similar type of fear gay individuals feel in some parts of the world and in society. The book is very heart-warming. At times, I will say the story moved a bit slow. However, it picked up the pace of action the further along in the book. In comparison to other dystopian novels I have read, this one is more deeply and personally relatable. Many other dystopian novels are surrounding the topic of tests and killing members of society. This dystopian novel doesn’t involve avoiding a strict death penalty as much as finding a way to live life in the character’s choosing happily and peacefully. The rules in this society are less strict than in other dystopian novels in some aspects by allowing almost normal lives to be lived however they restrict the citizen’s capabilities of love and happiness which one could argue is more strict than the laws in other dystopian novels. I would recommend this book to teenagers and young adults, especially those who have been hurt and believe that love is only harmful, toxic, and a force to repress, shame, and avoid. This book reteaches the power and necessity of love, not only in a romantic aspect, but in maintaining healthy relationships with those who are close in your life.]]> 2018-11-05 03:58:33 UTC https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/300306068 11/11/18-Blog #8: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver Serena_Claire https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/303099366 Now that I have started reading the sequel to Delirium, I will discuss my predictions for this book as well as other books later in the series. The last book ended with the death of the main character (Lena)’s love interest, Alex. Considering the following: Lena never actually saw Alex die, there are more books in the series after this one, and that the main significance in Delirium -other than the theme portrayed by the dysfunctions of society- is the heart-warming love story between Alex and Lena. The author is known for writing love stories. The readers of the author’s series are known for enjoying love stories. She just can’t let the love interest die, can she? I also believe that either in this book or in a future book, Lena will find her mother. The last book set it up perfectly for her to find her mom with Lena’s discovery that her mom isn’t dead, discovering her mom managed to escape the prison and into the wilds, and Lena escaping the boarded portion of the US controlled by the government. Now that Lena is living in the wilds, the author will probably build up her relationship with the people she meets there. However, no one can replace the relationship between Lena and Alex or between Lena and her long-lost mother. I highly doubt that Lena will fall for someone else in the wilds after the incredible romance that occurred between her and Alex. Perhaps Lena could eventually begin to have feelings for someone else since rediscovering Alex won’t come soon. The possibility that no romance will occur for the rest of the series is highly unlikely especially due to the fact that open love is the purpose of living in the Wilds.

]]> 2018-11-12 03:37:35 UTC https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/303099366 12/09/18-Blog #9: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver Serena_Claire https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/310269627 This book, the sequel to Delirium, is taking place at two points in time. Each chapter alternates between Lena living in the Wilds and later in the future of Lena living among the resistance in the bordered of region of the government. I am very interested in both settings of the story. I thought that when I started this book that I would get bored without a love story. The action alone is keeping me hooked to the story. I watched Lena’s progression as a person and am enjoying reading about how she is living as the new person she became at the end of the last book. I don’t really expect the author will bring back any romance at least in this book. I originally said that Lauren Oliver had to carry over Lena and Alex’s love story into the rest of the series, but now the story is interesting and building strong enough without any love story. The characters are entirely new other than Lena and I predict she will build a strong connection with them as their character back stories and deeper personalities are revealed throughout the book. The wilds are also way more challenging to survive in than Lena or I could’ve predicted from the end of the last book. I predict that a main supporting character to Lena will die at some point in the book. I also think the resistance will make great progress or fall apart completely. There have been a few indications to the resistance playing a bigger role in this book than the last book.]]> 2018-12-03 03:41:50 UTC https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/310269627 12/16/18-Blog #10 Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver Serena_Claire https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/315047750 Currently in the book, during every other chapter Lena is locked up with a young leader of the DFA (Delirious Free America) who is on the opposite side as her. She has to pretend that she is on the same side as him even though she is secretly a member of the resistance. This has me nervous in anticipation for what will happen between the two. I think the author might start a love story between the two which I am not happy about at all. Lena cannot fall in love again. The love of her life died and she either must be alone forever or somehow discover that Alex is still alive. Right now Lena is disgusted with Julian (her new potential love interest) because he is a member of the group of people helping to kill members of the resistance including leading the force that killed Alex. The author has given subtle signs that Lena and Julian will get together but I am still not over the death of Alex. I am okay with Lena not having the love story of her and Alex anymore, but I am not okay with Lena having a new love story, especially with someone who believes in the cure. I am also waiting for her to figure out how to escape and I am fairly certain it will have something to do with the umbrella Tack gave her at the rally. It was way too odd for Tack to randomly give her an umbrella at the start of the rally for him to not have hidden something in there for her.

]]> 2018-12-17 03:51:27 UTC https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/315047750 1/7/19-Blog #11 Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver Serena_Claire https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/318153564 At the place I am at in the book, there is a lot of similarities to a classic romance story that has become more popular these days. They two love interests start off disliking each other. They are unfortunately forced to spend a lot of time together and eventually catch feelings for each other. It is contrasting from the first book, Delirium. I tend to enjoy these types of romances more than the stories starting off with the two love interests liking each other. The fact that the boy is not Alex, Lena’s love interest from the first book, still bothers me. This love interest is also on the side that opposes love which makes it hard to like him as a character. However, since Lena started off on that same side in the first book and changed, I grew to really like her. The two timelines that occur between each chapter makes the story connect in a unique way. There are things in the present timeline that I don’t understand, like how the characters got there and where the other characters from the Wilds are. Those missing pieces are starting to align in the past timeline. The tone and plot of the love story are like online writing pieces of a small author named PocketBangtan. The two authors use precise description of the details of the characters around them to emphasize the significance of the character’s presence. The two authors also both use vivid, yet classy word choice in their descriptions of the heated moments between the two love interests. Most authors use bold and tacky word choice in those situations.

]]> 2019-01-08 03:42:04 UTC https://padlet.com/Serena_Claire/j3pj6mxm42e/wish/318153564