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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
Loved this book, it just hit home. I loved Heather’s character development. Wish Dodge has a final chapter. Other than that I will definitely will be reading more of Lauren Oliver in the future.
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
While I read this quickly, it was definitely not my favorite of her books. It felt way too contrived--it was seriously raining at almost every single pivotal moment. She didn't need to basically walk a high wire while it was also pouring--that's just crazy. I also didn't feel connected to any of the characters even though I should've been. The novel is meant to be thrilling, and moments were, but everything felt fake so I didn't really care about anyone by the time the end rolled around. However, I can definitely see some readers gobbling this up because of its fast pace and quick movement to the end of the "game."
the audiobook was hard to follow at times but I enjoyed the story
more like 3.75 but it just wasn't as great as I expected. review to come (hopefully).
Nice story with a good message, awesome writing as usual. Wasn't too attached to the characters and the overall story was meh lol. I predicted what was going to happen before it did and didn't ever really had me at the edge of my seat. Will def read more of her books- love Lauren Oliver!
See my full review here . Once I got over the fact that the protagonist had the same name as me, this book was relatable and enjoyable. Heather’s motivations for joining Panic are were mostly because a boy dumped her, but as we continue with the challenges, she comes into her own and is able to figure out what she wants to do with herself. She’s fiercely protective of her young sister and is very resourceful. Of course I wanted to see myself as the character. The town of Carp reminds me of my own hometown, though my home life was not quite so down in the dumps. I understand the motivation to play a game like Panic–there’s literally nothing else to do.
I was more confused about Dodge and Nat, I didn’t like them together. She was using him and by the end I’m not sure what possessed them to stay together after their “fight.” There’s also no reprimand for Dodge rigging the end joust or Bishop sleeping with Vivan. There were too many unresolved subplots. Also, I definitely understood Bishops role early on, but found it amusing that the others didn’t see it coming.
I was reading other reviews and I saw comparisons to Divergent and Hunger Games? Really? The defining piece of those books was how these girls were living in a dystopian society and had no choice in how they acted. Heather and all the players of Panic had a choice whether or not to play. Just because they were doing physical and mental challenges doesn’t mean it deserves to be compared to those franchises. This is a stand alone. She’s not the savior of society, just herself.
I am definitely interested in reading more Lauren Oliver books (Especially Rooms). This one was interesting and kept a fast pace–always important for any book!
I was more confused about Dodge and Nat, I didn’t like them together. She was using him and by the end I’m not sure what possessed them to stay together after their “fight.” There’s also no reprimand for Dodge rigging the end joust or Bishop sleeping with Vivan. There were too many unresolved subplots. Also, I definitely understood Bishops role early on, but found it amusing that the others didn’t see it coming.
I was reading other reviews and I saw comparisons to Divergent and Hunger Games? Really? The defining piece of those books was how these girls were living in a dystopian society and had no choice in how they acted. Heather and all the players of Panic had a choice whether or not to play. Just because they were doing physical and mental challenges doesn’t mean it deserves to be compared to those franchises. This is a stand alone. She’s not the savior of society, just herself.
I am definitely interested in reading more Lauren Oliver books (Especially Rooms). This one was interesting and kept a fast pace–always important for any book!
This was more of a 3.5 stars for me - I'm still having trouble deciding whether to give it four stars or three, so for now we will go with 3.5.
I really did enjoy it - I had some issues with it, but overall, I liked it and do recommend it!
I really did enjoy it - I had some issues with it, but overall, I liked it and do recommend it!
now, i'm not actually that surprised this is what i rated this book, but i am disappointed. let me be upfront on why i picked this book: i watched the show not once but twice and it is sort of a guilty pleasure of mine. while i think it's far from perfect, i enjoy plenty of it, in a 'this isn't good but i'm still having fun' kind of way.
i did not have fun with the book.
the idea of the book is solid in my opinion - and i think the book is more focused on the game than the show. the show starts losing focus during the last episodes, but here the game is always the central focus, which i enjoy because i know i'd have lost interest and dnf this without the game to pull me through. i've said where there are spoilers ahead, but if you want to be on the safe side skip this review if you don't want any spoilers.
but it's the characters that make this unbearable for me, and the writing doesn't help.
heather is one of the two protagonists we follow through-out the story. i'm glad they changed for the show her motivation behind joining panic. here she joins because her boyfriend cheats on her and then dumps her. if she had had some more thoughts beyond him, i wouldn't have minded as much. i don't think that just because it's motivated by him it'd be a bad thing, but i wish we had had more thoughts of her wanting to prove people wrong on their assumptions or something of the sort. again, i feel like this 'on the weaker' side motivation would not matter as much if the rest was solid, but heather goes from having no fear, to them saying she's always afraid, to then losing all fear again and it just... it always felt too sudden and gave me whiplash. there's also, of course, how she's described as not being pretty but then of course she is, but i'm feeling nice and let this one slide - she's a teenager growing up. maybe she grew into it, i don't know okay. even trying to find a justification feels stupid because just three months passed so like... and she's have two guys into her so i find it not so belivable.
nat. oh, nat. i actually think that in the show they give part of nat's personality to heather, as she's afraid of everything here. she's not bad for the most part (and there's some parts that make me really uncomfortable on how she's treated - this is a minor spoiler so skip it if you want but i'm pretty sure there's a much older guy interested in her, who still hasn't turned 18, in exchange for helping her become a model or actress or something of the sort. if this was a commentary on how young girls are taken advantage i wouldn't mind, but it never goes that deep. dodge shames nat for what she did and then we never speak about it again and it made me furious). other than what i talked in the parenthesis, nat does something and just... there's no consequences whatsoever and i hate that? it's not as much as a problem i have with nat as much as with the narrative and how oliver chose to tell the story because i hate when characters do stuff and then there's no consequences for it, what's the point then, but it did also ruin a bit my enjoyment of nat as a character.
dodge. i don't like this guy. he makes me furious. i hate being in his head and he makes decisions that are just... i hate them. that's really all i can say without getting into spoilers so ahead skip this paragraph if you prefer not to read them. so dodge decides to play to avenge his older sister who was paralyzed after a car accident that, oh, wasn't an accident. the issue i have with that is he knows who caused the accident: luke. and instead of going against him, he's going against ray who's mistake has been... what? being luke's sibling? i keep asking myself if i missed something and ray helped or something because it makes dodge so unlikable, like i don't get why not go against luke? it's not like his plan to kill ray was without risks, and i don't get why i should cheer him when he's going against someone who is not the guilty party. and also: learning that dayna got hurt while playing panic, while still wrong because of luke's actions, does shift a bit my perception. in the show she's flat-out a victim, whereas in the book she chose to go far enough into panic to get to joust. again, wrong from luke to do, but like go kill luke or something. other than that, we have the time when his sister makes advancements with her legs and he sulks and refuses to be happy for her? when supposedly he's about to commit murder for her? and on top of all this being in his head while he thinks of nat is unbearable. i just don't like him. all that aside, he's actually not white in this book! so that's fun to know that they erased that in the show where he's actually a likeable character. so fun to learn.
bishop i have very little to say about him because he does very little and it always revolves around heather. again, he's just very meh? and kind of pathetic? i'm very meh about him. it's not like i like him but i don't hate him either.
other than that, the ending was kind of weird with the tiger and learning that oliver didn't understand it sounds mind-blowing to me but i'm left trying to make my own interpretation then - which is fine, i miss english class anyways, but like. still. other than that, ray's character here is extremely small, and i didn't realize how much his character added to the story told in the series until i saw how he wasn't as much here. the challenges were a bit fun to read, even if i call everything else in this book boring, but again: they feel more fun to watch in a tv show because it's not that there were huge descriptions here either or so creative that they hold up by themselves. at least with the visual it's fun. and what we gain in the book is to read the character's internal thoughts and i've said how i feel about it.
0verall, it's not a good book. i didn't get into the writing, but i didn't enjoy it either, and the characters harm the story so much that i could barely enjoy the challenges.
i did not have fun with the book.
the idea of the book is solid in my opinion - and i think the book is more focused on the game than the show. the show starts losing focus during the last episodes, but here the game is always the central focus, which i enjoy because i know i'd have lost interest and dnf this without the game to pull me through. i've said where there are spoilers ahead, but if you want to be on the safe side skip this review if you don't want any spoilers.
but it's the characters that make this unbearable for me, and the writing doesn't help.
heather is one of the two protagonists we follow through-out the story. i'm glad they changed for the show her motivation behind joining panic. here she joins because her boyfriend cheats on her and then dumps her. if she had had some more thoughts beyond him, i wouldn't have minded as much. i don't think that just because it's motivated by him it'd be a bad thing, but i wish we had had more thoughts of her wanting to prove people wrong on their assumptions or something of the sort. again, i feel like this 'on the weaker' side motivation would not matter as much if the rest was solid, but heather goes from having no fear, to them saying she's always afraid, to then losing all fear again and it just... it always felt too sudden and gave me whiplash. there's also, of course, how she's described as not being pretty but then of course she is, but i'm feeling nice and let this one slide - she's a teenager growing up. maybe she grew into it, i don't know okay. even trying to find a justification feels stupid because just three months passed so like... and she's have two guys into her so i find it not so belivable.
nat. oh, nat. i actually think that in the show they give part of nat's personality to heather, as she's afraid of everything here. she's not bad for the most part (and there's some parts that make me really uncomfortable on how she's treated - this is a minor spoiler so skip it if you want but i'm pretty sure there's a much older guy interested in her, who still hasn't turned 18, in exchange for helping her become a model or actress or something of the sort. if this was a commentary on how young girls are taken advantage i wouldn't mind, but it never goes that deep. dodge shames nat for what she did and then we never speak about it again and it made me furious). other than what i talked in the parenthesis, nat does something and just... there's no consequences whatsoever and i hate that? it's not as much as a problem i have with nat as much as with the narrative and how oliver chose to tell the story because i hate when characters do stuff and then there's no consequences for it, what's the point then, but it did also ruin a bit my enjoyment of nat as a character.
dodge. i don't like this guy. he makes me furious. i hate being in his head and he makes decisions that are just... i hate them. that's really all i can say without getting into spoilers so ahead skip this paragraph if you prefer not to read them. so dodge decides to play to avenge his older sister who was paralyzed after a car accident that, oh, wasn't an accident. the issue i have with that is he knows who caused the accident: luke. and instead of going against him, he's going against ray who's mistake has been... what? being luke's sibling? i keep asking myself if i missed something and ray helped or something because it makes dodge so unlikable, like i don't get why not go against luke? it's not like his plan to kill ray was without risks, and i don't get why i should cheer him when he's going against someone who is not the guilty party. and also: learning that dayna got hurt while playing panic, while still wrong because of luke's actions, does shift a bit my perception. in the show she's flat-out a victim, whereas in the book she chose to go far enough into panic to get to joust. again, wrong from luke to do, but like go kill luke or something. other than that, we have the time when his sister makes advancements with her legs and he sulks and refuses to be happy for her? when supposedly he's about to commit murder for her? and on top of all this being in his head while he thinks of nat is unbearable. i just don't like him. all that aside, he's actually not white in this book! so that's fun to know that they erased that in the show where he's actually a likeable character. so fun to learn.
bishop i have very little to say about him because he does very little and it always revolves around heather. again, he's just very meh? and kind of pathetic? i'm very meh about him. it's not like i like him but i don't hate him either.
other than that, the ending was kind of weird with the tiger and learning that oliver didn't understand it sounds mind-blowing to me but i'm left trying to make my own interpretation then - which is fine, i miss english class anyways, but like. still. other than that, ray's character here is extremely small, and i didn't realize how much his character added to the story told in the series until i saw how he wasn't as much here. the challenges were a bit fun to read, even if i call everything else in this book boring, but again: they feel more fun to watch in a tv show because it's not that there were huge descriptions here either or so creative that they hold up by themselves. at least with the visual it's fun. and what we gain in the book is to read the character's internal thoughts and i've said how i feel about it.
0verall, it's not a good book. i didn't get into the writing, but i didn't enjoy it either, and the characters harm the story so much that i could barely enjoy the challenges.
3.5 stars
A quick, suspenseful read. It all seemed believable. That there would be kids out there willing to risk their lives for a little bit of cash - ok, a lot of cash. The portrayal of a poor, depressed town was well done. It really added to the story and made the sense of urgency all the more real for the characters. There was a scene near the end that hinted at one of the characters having OCD. That wasn't ever addressed or even hinted at in the beginning. I was just curious why it was stuck in there. The ending was satisfying like a cool glass of iced tea on a hot summer day. I love when the reader gets a glimpse of normal life after the panic inducing elements of the majority of the story. And since I said panic, I would be very curious to know just how many times the word panic/panicked was used in this book. I bet it's a lot.
A quick, suspenseful read. It all seemed believable. That there would be kids out there willing to risk their lives for a little bit of cash - ok, a lot of cash. The portrayal of a poor, depressed town was well done. It really added to the story and made the sense of urgency all the more real for the characters. There was a scene near the end that hinted at one of the characters having OCD. That wasn't ever addressed or even hinted at in the beginning. I was just curious why it was stuck in there. The ending was satisfying like a cool glass of iced tea on a hot summer day. I love when the reader gets a glimpse of normal life after the panic inducing elements of the majority of the story. And since I said panic, I would be very curious to know just how many times the word panic/panicked was used in this book. I bet it's a lot.