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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
If I hadn't previously read the Delirium series I may not have been so harsh on this book. All I kept thinking while reading is "when is the good twist going to happen?" or "I know she can write better than this."
I found the book too predictable. Sure there were tiny things that I didn't see coming, but they were inconsequential in the scheme of things. And since there is more than one narrator it's hard to develop character depth, which was something I found endearing in Delirium.
Do I think lots of ya readers will love this book? Absolutely. I just wasn't one of them.
A lot of people are asking if this is like a dystopian Hunger Games like book. No, it's really just a bunch of bored teenagers trying to win money. The plot summary makes it seem like there's much more at stake than there is.
I found the book too predictable. Sure there were tiny things that I didn't see coming, but they were inconsequential in the scheme of things. And since there is more than one narrator it's hard to develop character depth, which was something I found endearing in Delirium.
Do I think lots of ya readers will love this book? Absolutely. I just wasn't one of them.
A lot of people are asking if this is like a dystopian Hunger Games like book. No, it's really just a bunch of bored teenagers trying to win money. The plot summary makes it seem like there's much more at stake than there is.
why is this book suddenly becoming a tv series?
this weird, overlong, largely forgotten about paragon of the Slightly Mysterious Contemporary genre that was so popular in 2014, a heinous year where your only choices were the aforementioned niche and Dystopian Knockoffs Desperately Attempting to Attain the Success of the Hunger Games.
this was not good to me even in 2014, when i was 16 and had no taste and read whatever i could buy at target.
god, i miss the finances of 16 year old me. no rent, no groceries, just an influx of under the table untaxed babysitting money i could freely spend on mediocre books and Halloween-esque bags of fun size candy.
anyway. even then, when everything was good, this still wasn't.
almost impressive, in that way.
this is part of a project i'm doing where i review books i read a long time ago. this one was provoked by my utter befuddlement upon seeing a trailer for this show.
this weird, overlong, largely forgotten about paragon of the Slightly Mysterious Contemporary genre that was so popular in 2014, a heinous year where your only choices were the aforementioned niche and Dystopian Knockoffs Desperately Attempting to Attain the Success of the Hunger Games.
this was not good to me even in 2014, when i was 16 and had no taste and read whatever i could buy at target.
god, i miss the finances of 16 year old me. no rent, no groceries, just an influx of under the table untaxed babysitting money i could freely spend on mediocre books and Halloween-esque bags of fun size candy.
anyway. even then, when everything was good, this still wasn't.
almost impressive, in that way.
this is part of a project i'm doing where i review books i read a long time ago. this one was provoked by my utter befuddlement upon seeing a trailer for this show.
I really had no idea what this book truly was about but I now know that it's all focused around two characters, Dodge who is a young guy out for revenge and who's pretty good at magic, but not friends. And then also Heather, an older sister who has a drug addict for a mother and a hard life trying to find a way to keep her sister happy and safe.
Panic is a game. Every year the stakes get higher and every year people play for a huge sum of money. Heather and Dodge each have their own reasons for entering. They're both playing to win.
I must say that this was a very fast-paced book and the plot and challenges were very gripping to the point that I just had to keep on reading to find out what would happen. The idea of the game is a very cool, yet terrifying, one and I really felt like it could happen in a small town in the middle of nowhere. It was very tense to read and really got me hoping nothing bad would happen.
I didn't like Heather that much as a character to begin with as I found her to be a bit whiney and she thought that she was in love with a really rubbish guy which was irritating. She was hung up on him for a bit, but after she got over that she became a much more exciting and strong character and she has to deal with some tough stuff.
Dodge seemed like a fairly typical teenage guy except that he's desperate to make sure that he wins panic as he needs to get revenge on someone for something that happened in a previous version of panic to his sister. He plays the 'revenge' part very well and you can understand his reasoning even if you see from the outside where his plans are flawed. He's a character who I certainly sympathised with a lot.
On the whole a very good standalone in the YA category and I would certainly recommend it. My only complaint was that the end felt a little too chirpy and sudden but all in all I really enjoyed it and it kept me guessing.
Panic is a game. Every year the stakes get higher and every year people play for a huge sum of money. Heather and Dodge each have their own reasons for entering. They're both playing to win.
I must say that this was a very fast-paced book and the plot and challenges were very gripping to the point that I just had to keep on reading to find out what would happen. The idea of the game is a very cool, yet terrifying, one and I really felt like it could happen in a small town in the middle of nowhere. It was very tense to read and really got me hoping nothing bad would happen.
I didn't like Heather that much as a character to begin with as I found her to be a bit whiney and she thought that she was in love with a really rubbish guy which was irritating. She was hung up on him for a bit, but after she got over that she became a much more exciting and strong character and she has to deal with some tough stuff.
Dodge seemed like a fairly typical teenage guy except that he's desperate to make sure that he wins panic as he needs to get revenge on someone for something that happened in a previous version of panic to his sister. He plays the 'revenge' part very well and you can understand his reasoning even if you see from the outside where his plans are flawed. He's a character who I certainly sympathised with a lot.
On the whole a very good standalone in the YA category and I would certainly recommend it. My only complaint was that the end felt a little too chirpy and sudden but all in all I really enjoyed it and it kept me guessing.
Had a lot of problems with this, but i thought the plot was a good idea, and i enjoyed the ending better than Laurens other books.
Panic is a young adult novel about a secret competition for graduating seniors in a small town. The winner gets to take a pot of about $67,000. The only catch is that the challenges are life-threatening and illegal.
I actually have no complaints about this book, which is rare. Usually I find at least one thing that could be improved upon. I’ll admit that when I first started reading this book, it reminded me of The Hunger Games or Scorpio Races—two books about teens competing in deadly challenges. However, Panic ended up being a book that holds its own.
My favorite part about this book was how it incorporates panic. There is a strong fear of death, which everyone faces, during the competitions. The fear in the challenges is real, but it is also man-made. They could back out of the situation at any point—of course that means that they won’t win the money, but it is always an option. Then there is also panic that comes from real life situations—violence, drugs, disabilities, poverty—that can be easily washed away. Every person involved in the game of Panic also experiences some sort of real life panic which inspires their desperation to compete.
Read the rest of my review here: http://judgingmorethanjustthecover.blogspot.com/2015/05/panic-lauren-oliver.html
I actually have no complaints about this book, which is rare. Usually I find at least one thing that could be improved upon. I’ll admit that when I first started reading this book, it reminded me of The Hunger Games or Scorpio Races—two books about teens competing in deadly challenges. However, Panic ended up being a book that holds its own.
My favorite part about this book was how it incorporates panic. There is a strong fear of death, which everyone faces, during the competitions. The fear in the challenges is real, but it is also man-made. They could back out of the situation at any point—of course that means that they won’t win the money, but it is always an option. Then there is also panic that comes from real life situations—violence, drugs, disabilities, poverty—that can be easily washed away. Every person involved in the game of Panic also experiences some sort of real life panic which inspires their desperation to compete.
Read the rest of my review here: http://judgingmorethanjustthecover.blogspot.com/2015/05/panic-lauren-oliver.html
I am a big fan of Lauren Oliver’s writing having read her Delirium trilogy which I absolutely adore. However going into Panic I was a bit hesitant since it hadn’t had the best reviews. However, I did end up really loving it. Overall, I really enjoyed the writing and the plot and I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. Let’s start with the full spoiler-free review.
Panic is all about a series of tough challenges that are created to make the competitors, well panic. Reading about these challenges terrified me because they were all so scary! I couldn’t even begin to imagine doing them for myself. This may have been just me, but when they starting doing the challenges I was always confused with what they had to do. It might have been just me not paying enough attention but I kept saying “Why are they in water?” and “What is she doing in the road?”. Carrying on from that, the start of this book really confused me because it started out during a challenge but then went back in time to the start of the challenge. The first few pages were confusing but once I got past them, I was so engrossed and I didn’t want to put it down. The challenges made the book suspenseful and intense and I loved that!
Heather was an excellent main character. She was strong and she dealt with all the various issues she had to deal with throughout the whole novel. Participating in Panic, she went through quite a lot with the tough challenges. On top of that she also went through a lot of personal issues in her life. I really admired the fact that she could deal with both challenges at the same time and not go crazy.
Since it is a Lauren Oliver book, there was a range of amazing supporting cast such as Nat and Bishop. But the other main character was Dodge. Dodge I didn’t really understand and whenever it was one of his chapters, I was counting the pages until Heather’s next chapter. I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it was just in Heather’s perspective. Dodge does go through a lot and he is probably the most determined to win but I just couldn’t connect to him. All of her characters had their own unique story and I loved that. Bishop was a great character and I honestly wish we knew more about him and I wish we explored him better. Actually I would have liked it, if the book was split between Heather’s and Bishop’s POV instead of Dodge’s because it would have given us as readers a sense of dramatic irony.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the lack of romance. Most YA books have a romance as a central story that keeps popping up everywhere but in Panic the romance was very much on the down low. There still was one but the book focused more on the challenges and I loved that. When I went into it, I wanted romance since I’d been reading romance for a while beforehand but there was simply no space for anymore romance in the story when most of the story is all about tough challenges.
For anyone who has read Requiem, you will probably have experienced the fact that Lauren Oliver isn’t exactly the best at writing endings to stories and this unfortunately showed in Panic. I found the ending to be a bit of a cop out and slightly rushed. If the book was a little bit longer, it could have been almost perfect.
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and Lauren Oliver’s writing but I wanted a better ending! A solid 4 out of 5 stars to this novel and I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes action and suspense.
Panic is all about a series of tough challenges that are created to make the competitors, well panic. Reading about these challenges terrified me because they were all so scary! I couldn’t even begin to imagine doing them for myself. This may have been just me, but when they starting doing the challenges I was always confused with what they had to do. It might have been just me not paying enough attention but I kept saying “Why are they in water?” and “What is she doing in the road?”. Carrying on from that, the start of this book really confused me because it started out during a challenge but then went back in time to the start of the challenge. The first few pages were confusing but once I got past them, I was so engrossed and I didn’t want to put it down. The challenges made the book suspenseful and intense and I loved that!
Heather was an excellent main character. She was strong and she dealt with all the various issues she had to deal with throughout the whole novel. Participating in Panic, she went through quite a lot with the tough challenges. On top of that she also went through a lot of personal issues in her life. I really admired the fact that she could deal with both challenges at the same time and not go crazy.
Since it is a Lauren Oliver book, there was a range of amazing supporting cast such as Nat and Bishop. But the other main character was Dodge. Dodge I didn’t really understand and whenever it was one of his chapters, I was counting the pages until Heather’s next chapter. I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it was just in Heather’s perspective. Dodge does go through a lot and he is probably the most determined to win but I just couldn’t connect to him. All of her characters had their own unique story and I loved that. Bishop was a great character and I honestly wish we knew more about him and I wish we explored him better. Actually I would have liked it, if the book was split between Heather’s and Bishop’s POV instead of Dodge’s because it would have given us as readers a sense of dramatic irony.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the lack of romance. Most YA books have a romance as a central story that keeps popping up everywhere but in Panic the romance was very much on the down low. There still was one but the book focused more on the challenges and I loved that. When I went into it, I wanted romance since I’d been reading romance for a while beforehand but there was simply no space for anymore romance in the story when most of the story is all about tough challenges.
For anyone who has read Requiem, you will probably have experienced the fact that Lauren Oliver isn’t exactly the best at writing endings to stories and this unfortunately showed in Panic. I found the ending to be a bit of a cop out and slightly rushed. If the book was a little bit longer, it could have been almost perfect.
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and Lauren Oliver’s writing but I wanted a better ending! A solid 4 out of 5 stars to this novel and I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes action and suspense.
I don't think I'm really into Lauren Oliver, no matter how I try. Honestly, I don't like any of the characters which is probably why I could careless what happens to them.
Meh. It was interesting enough to keep me going but it felt like there was so much crammed in. I wanted to know more about Bishop and Nat and we only get glimpses of some very big things.
My original review for this title can be found here on The Book Hookup.
**SPECIAL NOTE:** An eARC of this title was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. However, that did not influence this review in any way. All thoughts, quotes, and opinions will be of this version and not of the published edition.
♥ Initial Thoughts and Rating: Actual rating of 3.5 stars! It took me forever to decide between 3 and 4 stars. This isn’t anything spectacular, but it is definitely good and different from anything that I’ve read recently (ever before, maybe?). I think what ultimately boosted the rating is that her writing is just so well done; it flows easily and keeps you turning the pages.
♥ The Lowdown: Welcome to Carp, New York, a small town where everyone knows everyone and their mother, the rumor mill is running flawlessly, and where boredom brings about dangerous games. The origin of Panic is unknown, but the rules are quite simple and unbreakable. The game begins at the end of every school year, when summer starts and all those fresh-faced graduating seniors are set to face the world. The only people that can play are the seniors, and they’re all eligible because the buy-in has been a dollar a day for every school day from every senior regardless of your intentions to participate or not. There are two secret judges to host the competition and they must remain anonymous. Lastly, and most importantly, there can only ever be one winner.
Most seniors participate in it for the sake of tradition and for the thrill of the game, but with the jackpot sitting at a cool sixty-seven grand, a lot of them are in it strictly for the money. When the stakes get high, people aren’t above making alliances, breaking friendships, crossing a few blurred lines, and downright cheating to secure the win, consequences and possible loss of life be damned.
♥ My Thoughts: Panic almost felt like a YA version of Fear Factor in book format. The plot was original–though a bit predictable throughout to me– and it kept me turning the pages until I had finished it in just a few short hours. I could easily imagine something like this happening because I’m from a small town similar to Carp where we made up BS games all the time just to break up the monotony of our dull teen existence. (It was never anything as crazy or dangerous as this. It usually just involved people having to be naked at some point or another. Ahhh, memories, but I digress…) There were moments during the game that had my pulse thrumming and other times that reminded me of youth and ignorance. Overall, the game aspect of this novel made it feel new and somewhat fun. On the downside, I feel like when the secrets came to light, it didn’t make a huge impact with me because I felt like I had known them already from the beginning, and that took out some of the enjoyment for me.
As for the characters, this story is told in alternating dual POVs of Heather and Dodge. Initially, Heather is fueled to make the initiation plunge because of her breakup, but soon discovers that her motives might not have been so transparent. Living with an alcoholic, drug-abusing mother and little sister, Lily, Heather desperately wants out of Carp, and wouldn’t that reward be a nice jumpstart for her future. Like she states herself in the book, that much money could buy a whole lot of gas. For Dodge, he always knew he’d play the game, but he was never interested in cashing out at the end. His reward would be something entirely different and based on events that happened earlier in his life. He only wanted revenge. Along the way, we meet a few other side characters, but no others play a more important role than Bishop and Nat, Heather’s best friends and the potential love interests for our two main characters. While all of these characters were likable (and somewhat unlikable) in most instances, I never really found myself connecting with any of them. I always felt like I was missing out of some of their depth, and that flatness was also one of the key reasons I couldn’t give this title a higher rating.
To me, Oliver’s strongest asset was her ability to make me buy into this plot and these characters even when I wasn’t necessarily falling in love with either. Without a doubt, she has a talent in how she delivers her story, enticing her readers and their senses with an effortless prose and dialogue that flows naturally and makes them feel very much a part of the book. It was for this reason that I couldn’t help turning the pages. She kept me wanting to know more simply because of the way she writes.
♥ Rec It? Maybe? This book definitely won’t be for everyone. Actually, I’m still kind of on the fence about my overall feelings on it. While I liked the thrill of the game, it was difficult to fall in love with the book because I found that I could anticipate what would happen in the book, as far as the plot and characters were concerned, well in advance of it actually happening. That being said, while this book was my first read of this author’s work, it won’t be my last. Lauren Oliver’s storytelling and writing were fantastic, and I’ll be on the lookout for more.
♥ A very special thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss for providing me with an early copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.
**SPECIAL NOTE:** An eARC of this title was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. However, that did not influence this review in any way. All thoughts, quotes, and opinions will be of this version and not of the published edition.
♥ Initial Thoughts and Rating: Actual rating of 3.5 stars! It took me forever to decide between 3 and 4 stars. This isn’t anything spectacular, but it is definitely good and different from anything that I’ve read recently (ever before, maybe?). I think what ultimately boosted the rating is that her writing is just so well done; it flows easily and keeps you turning the pages.
♥ The Lowdown: Welcome to Carp, New York, a small town where everyone knows everyone and their mother, the rumor mill is running flawlessly, and where boredom brings about dangerous games. The origin of Panic is unknown, but the rules are quite simple and unbreakable. The game begins at the end of every school year, when summer starts and all those fresh-faced graduating seniors are set to face the world. The only people that can play are the seniors, and they’re all eligible because the buy-in has been a dollar a day for every school day from every senior regardless of your intentions to participate or not. There are two secret judges to host the competition and they must remain anonymous. Lastly, and most importantly, there can only ever be one winner.
Most seniors participate in it for the sake of tradition and for the thrill of the game, but with the jackpot sitting at a cool sixty-seven grand, a lot of them are in it strictly for the money. When the stakes get high, people aren’t above making alliances, breaking friendships, crossing a few blurred lines, and downright cheating to secure the win, consequences and possible loss of life be damned.
♥ My Thoughts: Panic almost felt like a YA version of Fear Factor in book format. The plot was original–though a bit predictable throughout to me– and it kept me turning the pages until I had finished it in just a few short hours. I could easily imagine something like this happening because I’m from a small town similar to Carp where we made up BS games all the time just to break up the monotony of our dull teen existence. (It was never anything as crazy or dangerous as this. It usually just involved people having to be naked at some point or another. Ahhh, memories, but I digress…) There were moments during the game that had my pulse thrumming and other times that reminded me of youth and ignorance. Overall, the game aspect of this novel made it feel new and somewhat fun. On the downside, I feel like when the secrets came to light, it didn’t make a huge impact with me because I felt like I had known them already from the beginning, and that took out some of the enjoyment for me.
As for the characters, this story is told in alternating dual POVs of Heather and Dodge. Initially, Heather is fueled to make the initiation plunge because of her breakup, but soon discovers that her motives might not have been so transparent. Living with an alcoholic, drug-abusing mother and little sister, Lily, Heather desperately wants out of Carp, and wouldn’t that reward be a nice jumpstart for her future. Like she states herself in the book, that much money could buy a whole lot of gas. For Dodge, he always knew he’d play the game, but he was never interested in cashing out at the end. His reward would be something entirely different and based on events that happened earlier in his life. He only wanted revenge. Along the way, we meet a few other side characters, but no others play a more important role than Bishop and Nat, Heather’s best friends and the potential love interests for our two main characters. While all of these characters were likable (and somewhat unlikable) in most instances, I never really found myself connecting with any of them. I always felt like I was missing out of some of their depth, and that flatness was also one of the key reasons I couldn’t give this title a higher rating.
To me, Oliver’s strongest asset was her ability to make me buy into this plot and these characters even when I wasn’t necessarily falling in love with either. Without a doubt, she has a talent in how she delivers her story, enticing her readers and their senses with an effortless prose and dialogue that flows naturally and makes them feel very much a part of the book. It was for this reason that I couldn’t help turning the pages. She kept me wanting to know more simply because of the way she writes.
♥ Rec It? Maybe? This book definitely won’t be for everyone. Actually, I’m still kind of on the fence about my overall feelings on it. While I liked the thrill of the game, it was difficult to fall in love with the book because I found that I could anticipate what would happen in the book, as far as the plot and characters were concerned, well in advance of it actually happening. That being said, while this book was my first read of this author’s work, it won’t be my last. Lauren Oliver’s storytelling and writing were fantastic, and I’ll be on the lookout for more.
♥ A very special thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss for providing me with an early copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.