Hana

Lauren Oliver’s Hana novella tells the story of Lena’s best friend in the time leading up to and during the events of Delirium, but from Hana’s own perspective. The reader who finished the trilogy already knows how Hana’s story ends, which gives this novella an unusual weight.

Hana is more compromised than Lena was. Her family has more standing in the cured society. Her view of what the procedure means and who benefits from it is complicated by the position she occupies.

Oliver doesn’t make Hana a villain. The novella works hard to show how someone in her circumstances could believe what she believes and act on it.

For readers who came out of the trilogy with strong feelings about Hana, this is the necessary other side. Best read between Delirium and Pandemonium for maximum effect, though it works after the trilogy too.