It’s Friday again! Phew, the week is finally (almost) over! So it’s only my third Freaky Friday weekly feature and already I’m struggling with which character I want to feature in these posts. Bad sign? Maybe. Laziness? More likely. It’s actually a lot more work than I thought to put myself in their shoes! I never had to think about it in terms of what I would do in their place. BUT I really do enjoy it because it helps me analyze the characters in ways I didn’t even think of as I was reading the book. So I put on my blogging hat, thought about my favorite books, and came up with this week’s feature:
In this week’s Freaky Friday, I will be switching places with LENA (HALOWAY) TIDDLE from DELIRIUM/PANDEMONIUM
I’ll just use Delirium since Pandemonium may cause a lot of spoilers!
In Case You Forgot… Lena lives in a future-America where the world believes that love is a disease – People act crazy because of love and do dangerous and life-altering things – So scientists have come up with a cure that is administered to all 18-year-olds to prevent them from capabilities of feeling love. Although nervous about her procedure, Lena keeps her head down in society and awaits the day when she has her cure and will fit in with the rest of her world. She’s haunted by the memory of her mother – for whom the cure didn’t work – and is constantly plagued with the story of her suicide for love. Everything gets turned upside down with Lena meets Alex, a 19-year-old hiding inside society as a Cured, but never did have the procedure. When they get to know each other more, Lena starts to feel that love might not be a bad idea. In fact, it’s something worth fighting for.
So I Wake Up In… Portland, Maine. Oooh I’ve never been to Maine, but I am very interested in going! Except this is the Maine of the future and now I’m in a world that doesn’t tolerate love in any way, shape, or form. So now what? I love my family, I love my boyfriend, I love my friends. I already know what love is like and love is a wonderful thing! Things are about to get weird…
Yep, that’s how I pictured the rocky beaches of Portland!
Family Life… Living with Lena’s aunt, uncle, and cousins might not be so bad. I just think it’d be really stiff since it would seem so emotionless to me. In fact, I’d feel really odd living in a whole world where emotions as strong as love are not only frowned upon, but punishable. Oh cripes, this does not look good for me. I’d probaby get thrown in the crypts right off the bat; although I guess since I’d be a stranger in the town, I wouldn’t really have anyone there to love. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad afterall…
So Then it Gets Complicated… Let’s start with Lena’s friendship with Hana – I really liked the way their friendship kind of fell together. They didn’t seem to have much in common at all and yet their friendship was perfectly natural. I could use a good friend like Hana in that situation, but the question (as it was for Lena) is even though you trust her, how much can you really tell her? Best friends understand you better than a lot of people – They’re the ones you tell your secrets to. But how big of a secret is too big to tell? Lena struggles with that throughout the book when she starts her relationship with Alex and I can definitely relate to that idea in many ways! Which brings us to…
Alex. I loved Lena and Alex. Man, I almost think I need to put this on my reread list because I’m already starting to forget half the details from the book 🙁 I’ve never been good at retaining what I read. Anyway… So here’s this relationship with Alex. It really starts to grow on Lena. Now it’s a hidden relationship from, well, everyone. Give me love or give me death! And we begin the entire plot of the book – But more on this… Right now!
Just a Crush… Alex! I lovedddd his character and the way he pursued Lena. It just seemed like they were supposed to be together! I loved Alex’s little wild side (I guess we do find out more about the Wilds later!) and his quiet defiance against the ever-non-loving society. It gives the book a nice edge and sometimes I just really love rooting for the rebellion! I would totally be Alex’s partner in crime – Plus it helps that he’s good in a jam, can think and act quickly, and he’s definitely Lena’s knight in shining armor. What more could you ask for? Some pretty great traits in my opinion! Sometimes I can’t place it exactly (and this was one of the times) where I just love the romance and I develop a little book-crush!
“Everyone is asleep. They’ve all been asleep for years. You seemed … awake.’ Alex is whispering now. He closes his eyes, opens them again.’I’m tired of sleeping.”
“And I love you too.” His fingers skate the edge of my jaw, dance briefly over my lips. “You should know that. You have to know that.”
“Love, the deadliest of all deadly things: it kills you both when you have it and when you don’t.”
Yeahhh, buddy! Words like that really just get me! They developed such a passion for each other, and I really felt like it was real. Not rushed, not forced. In spite of anything and everything that happened, Alex just wanted Lena to be loved and to be happy – real happy, not the fake, emotionless kind.
Welcome to My Life… Not terribly exciting, but Lena would be able to know real love! I don’t know how she’d cope without Alex or without a friend to lean on, but I think she’s pretty strong, even if she is quiet. But Lena would be able to feel the love from my family and my friends. Maybe she’d even want to stay. She’d never have to run from love or hide it again!
