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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
At first I thought: "Oh, it will be like the Hunger Games, won't it?"
Then I read it and when I finished it I though "Wow, this was nothing like the Hunger Games!"
The book is written from two POVs: Heather and Dodge. Both are very realistic characters, flawed and struggling in their own way. Then there's Bishop and Natalie, Heather's best friends. Natalie is the kind of girl that I would never get along with in real life, but I found that I sort of liked her in the book.
Panic (the game) was cruel and merciless and very interesting to read about. And wow, do I hate Heather's mother...
Anyway, very rambly review, but read it! This was my first Lauren Oliver book (omg I know) and I definitely want to check out more of her books.
Then I read it and when I finished it I though "Wow, this was nothing like the Hunger Games!"
The book is written from two POVs: Heather and Dodge. Both are very realistic characters, flawed and struggling in their own way. Then there's Bishop and Natalie, Heather's best friends. Natalie is the kind of girl that I would never get along with in real life, but I found that I sort of liked her in the book.
Panic (the game) was cruel and merciless and very interesting to read about. And wow, do I hate Heather's mother...
Anyway, very rambly review, but read it! This was my first Lauren Oliver book (omg I know) and I definitely want to check out more of her books.
The summer after their senior year, a group of kids participate in "Panic" a game where the competitors participate in crazy and life-threatening stunts, all in hopes of being the last one standing to win the thousands of dollars jackpot.
I would have really given this a 2.5... I didn't love this book. I think my biggest problem with the book is that I just didn't like any of the characters. I suppose I should have felt something for Heather and Dodge, since they were the "main" characters, but I only felt annoyed by them. Maybe it's the goody two shoes in me as well, but it seemed like everyone in the game pulled all these stunts, seemingly with no consequences at all. In the end, they all just carry on with their lives (happier than they were before!)
I would have really given this a 2.5... I didn't love this book. I think my biggest problem with the book is that I just didn't like any of the characters. I suppose I should have felt something for Heather and Dodge, since they were the "main" characters, but I only felt annoyed by them. Maybe it's the goody two shoes in me as well, but it seemed like everyone in the game pulled all these stunts, seemingly with no consequences at all. In the end, they all just carry on with their lives (happier than they were before!)
Skews young teen. Kept me reading but it just never really grabbed me—not like her other books.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am not a book purist and this book has only reinforced that. I think the show was better.
This plot requires tension and it does not come through. I thought it was very fine but lacked descriptive characteristics needed to pull everything together.
Some of the things that happened in the book are different and a make a little more sense than what tv did. The book was just too simplistic compared to what the show was able to convey.
This plot requires tension and it does not come through. I thought it was very fine but lacked descriptive characteristics needed to pull everything together.
Some of the things that happened in the book are different and a make a little more sense than what tv did. The book was just too simplistic compared to what the show was able to convey.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I watched the show based on this book and loved it, so I had to grab the book. There are so many differences between the two, there are whole plot lines in the show that don’t even exist in the book. And so many little details were changed, I’m sure there are reasons why the changes were made, but I loved Ray so much in the show and he hardly speaks in the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Oliver's writing style and sense of pacing were great, and her characters were absolutely perfect; their motivations and interior lives were complex and vibrant, their relationships with each other were messy and ever-changing, their dialogue was spot-on. I especially loved Heather and thought her connections with her sister and Bishop and Natalie were sweet and compelling, but really would've loved to feel her connection with Anne more--one more scene between them before would've probably done the trick. There was also a great sense of tension throughout the book with each character and some nice twists, even when things started to seem predictable.
Spoiler
Heather and Lily moved inSpoiler
I didn't really feel that the building tension paid off at the end, which was so...nice? I didn't really want anything truly awful to happen, but I sort of expected that it would. I'm so so glad Heather didn't die, for example, but I thought she might at 2 or 3 different points, and I was similarly worried for Natalie a few times, and sort of worried not for Dodge but about him, about what he might do to any of the other three main characters to achieve his goals... Maybe for me this book ultimately suffers from HP-epilogue-syndrome, the authorial desire to write a happy ending for the characters they love when something more open-ended might have been appropriate. The last chapter/scene was sweet and warm, but seemed like a tonal departure from the earlier parts of the book.
What I Thought: Panic is an exciting thrill adventure that kept me wanting to know what challenges the contestants of Panic were going to go through next!
Carp is a small town with nothing to do, and the game of Panic was created. Each year, a bunch of seniors decide to participate for a whole lotta prize money, usually which can get the winner onto greener pastures than what they leave behind. For Heather, it's a chance to get herself and her sister away from her druggie mother and have a chance at a real life. For Dodge, it's a chance for revenge for his sister. For Nat, it's a ride to LA and the acting career she so desperately wants - but in the end, there is only one winner.
My problems with this beautiful story was the absolute fake characters - best friends lied to each other, deceived each other, stabbed each other in the back and then pretended like nothing ever happened. Between Heather, Nat, Bishop and Dodge, it happened countless times, and began to grate on my nerves a bit.
But what really did it for me, was the challenges of Panic. I didn't particularly care about the background, I wanted the action. What were they going to do next? Would they die? Most importantly, who would win? Of course all the answers came and they were extremely satisfying.
Panic is quite different to Oliver's Delirium series, which she is most famous for, but I would definitely say that Panic will give it a run for it's money!
The Good: Different concept that left me wanting to read without stopping - didn't want to put it down!
The Bad: The characters who I loved to hate most times, and some of the twists I figured out pretty early on.
Rating:4 stars
Carp is a small town with nothing to do, and the game of Panic was created. Each year, a bunch of seniors decide to participate for a whole lotta prize money, usually which can get the winner onto greener pastures than what they leave behind. For Heather, it's a chance to get herself and her sister away from her druggie mother and have a chance at a real life. For Dodge, it's a chance for revenge for his sister. For Nat, it's a ride to LA and the acting career she so desperately wants - but in the end, there is only one winner.
My problems with this beautiful story was the absolute fake characters - best friends lied to each other, deceived each other, stabbed each other in the back and then pretended like nothing ever happened. Between Heather, Nat, Bishop and Dodge, it happened countless times, and began to grate on my nerves a bit.
But what really did it for me, was the challenges of Panic. I didn't particularly care about the background, I wanted the action. What were they going to do next? Would they die? Most importantly, who would win? Of course all the answers came and they were extremely satisfying.
Panic is quite different to Oliver's Delirium series, which she is most famous for, but I would definitely say that Panic will give it a run for it's money!
The Good: Different concept that left me wanting to read without stopping - didn't want to put it down!
The Bad: The characters who I loved to hate most times, and some of the twists I figured out pretty early on.
Rating:4 stars
we were robbed of ray and heather! the show was better i fear but dodge’s character growth was chefs kiss
