The all-too-awesome Nicole over at Word for Teens is hosting a Hunger Games Cover Redesign competition to go along with the Holiday Read-a-Thon happening at Who R U Blog. Though I'm not doing the competition because work will be the death of me, I decided to take a stab at the contest...mostly because I was bored last night...

The Cover Redesign Competition goes through midnight on Sunday, December 5th. Judging will take place on December 6th, and there are a couple of sweet prizes - one lucky winner will win their very own copy of The Hunger Games and a temporary tattoo. Why do I want to win this, you ask? Why...to give away a copy to you lovelies, of course!

So what do you think of my feeble attempt? Love it? Hate it? I won't be offended at all...promise!

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.
Taken from GoodReads.

Delirium follows the story of Lena, a teenage girl just months away from being cured of a heinous disease on her 18th birthday. The disease? It's love. Scientists have declared it to be the root of all physical ailments and now mandate that all people upon turning 18 must be cured. Lena has had a rocky past with a family history of sympathizers, pain, and great tragedy, but she trusts society and can't wait to be cured. She never thought that she would encounter something that she thought couldn't happen to her...she falls in love, and she has to decide if love is right or if she's on a path to true happiness.

I'm probably one of the few that didn't finish Before I Fall, simply because I couldn't get into it. That said, I found that I really adored Lauren Oliver's writing style, so I was excited to give Delirium a go. Once again, Lauren Oliver's writing is near-perfect, mastering a difficult tense – first person/present – with ease. She created both a world and an incredible character voice for Lena that makes it impossible for you not to be drawn into the world Lena lives in.

Dystopian is a hit right now, and the key is finding a fresh and original idea. Delirium presents a future society where love is outlawed, and a pseudo-labotomy is performed to keep citizens from suffering. Lena knows firsthand though that an absence of love can create a disconnect, and though she implicitly trusts the law, she has a nagging fear in the back of her mind. She's a completely tangible character with the desire to right her family's wrongs, but love intervenes and she must decide her own path. Complete with a cast of secondary characters including Alex and Hanna, Delirium is a stunning and realistic portrayal of a teenage girl's journey to find herself, despite the futuristic dystopian setting.

I'm not one to go by hype alone, but I'll keep singing Delirium's praises because it is a truly novel (no pun intended) idea with incredible writing and characters to back it. I give it a perfect 5 out of 5, and I'd recommend it to all fans of YA, especially those who enjoy dystopian and romance, as well as coming of age tales. This title releases on February 1, 2011.

I received this book free of charge from HarperCollins and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine, and specifically spotlights upcoming novels we can't wait to read. As always, there are some amazing upcoming books, but this week I'm particularly excited for...

Title: Mermaid
Author: Carolyn Turgeon
Release Date: March 3, 2011
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group

The story of two very different women, one mortal, one mermaid, and the clash between worlds best kept apart... It is a cold day at the end of the world when a young woman, a princess in hiding, looks out across a Northern sea and sees something she could not have seen. It looks...it can't be. It looks like a mermaid's tail.
And, as she looks more closely, she sees that the mermaid is dragging a drowning sailor in her arms. Because, only hours before, another princess, the daughter of the sea queen, has decided to risk everything and take a look at the world above the sea: the world of mortals. And there she finds a storm, a shipwreck, a sailor, and sets in train events which will change both women's worlds for ever.

Taken from Goodreads.

I had the hardest time picking just one book to feature as my WoW this week, but I have to say that the stories of mermaids never get old for me. Mermaid sounds delightfully fresh and exciting, but still true to the classic sort of land vs. sea tale. Plus, Mermaid has an absolutely drool-worthy cover. The colours, the font...all of it...I'm sold on this story of mermaids, princesses, wars between different worlds and deep sea adventures (and it totally keeps with my love of water, eh?!) What do you think, and what are you waiting on this week?