Review: Hana

Hana (Delirium #1.5) by Lauren Oliver
Release Date ~ February 28, 2012 (released early on MTV.com on February 14, 2012)
HarperCollins
ASIN: B005MMNZYE
Read online at MTV.com

Goodreads Description:
The summer before they're supposed to be cured of the ability to love, best friends Lena and Hana begin to drift apart. While Lena shies away from underground music and parties with boys, Hana jumps at her last chance to experience the forbidden. For her, the summer is full of wild music, dancing—and even her first kiss.
But on the surface, Hana must be a model of perfect behavior. She meets her approved match, Fred Hargrove, and glimpses the safe, comfortable life she’ll have with him once they marry. As the date for her cure draws ever closer, Hana desperately misses Lena, wonders how it feels to truly be in love, and is simultaneously terrified of rebelling and of falling into line.
In this digital story that will appeal to fans of Delirium and welcome new admirers to its world, readers will come to understand scenes from Delirium through Hana's perspective. Hana is a touching and revealing look at a life-changing and tumultuous summer.

I think by now it's fairly well established that Delirium is one of my favourite books EVER. I love it. Adore it. And reading Hana was a little bit different for me since I'd already read Pandemonium and was curious to see how Hana would line up with it. By the way, Hana really does fit in neatly just before Pandemonium. There isn't any overlap.

Hana is a lovely little teaser of another perspective in Lena's story, and adds more depth to it overall. Ideal for fans, but I would hold off on reading it if you haven't read Delirium yet.

1. Hana's perspective:
   
   This is definitely the top reason to read Hana, as we get a very intimate look into her life and what was happened with her while Delirium focused on Lena. The story ends up being really fleshed out, and we have a far better idea of the relationships and characters involved. Plus Hana was just such a fun (and different person from Lena) that she deserves a story all on her own.
2. Novella that packs a punch:
   
   Even though the short story is only about 70 pages long, it isn't lacking in any way. Lauren's writing is as gorgeous as ever, the voice of Hana is heard loud and clear, and as always the ending is a killer one. We should honestly stop being surprised by this with this series.

Whilethis is such a worthwhile read, it is so short that I'm really not sure you can get more than 2 reasons out of me for this one ;) but it's a grand novella, very well done and put together. Perfect for fans, and I'm happy to see that it was released for free on MTV just before Pandemonium comes out.