Scan barcode
stuckinafictionaluniverse's review against another edition
1.0
My theme for February was to read books by authors I have enjoyed in the past and see if I still enjoy the rest of their work. There were a few hits - [a:Marie Lu|4342215|Marie Lu|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1285032806p2/4342215.jpg] and [a:Holly Black|25422|Holly Black|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1589911274p2/25422.jpg] seemed to be at the top of their game - and misses - [a:Courtney Summers|1487748|Courtney Summers|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1589039294p2/1487748.jpg], [a:Ruta Sepetys|3407448|Ruta Sepetys|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1344869981p2/3407448.jpg], [a:Melina Marchetta|47104|Melina Marchetta|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1277655889p2/47104.jpg] (Sorry, I still love you all!)
Panic falls in a completely different category, named Why on earth did I pick this up? I’ve given this author two, three, four chances.. why do I keep going back to her books? This was the last straw. I thoroughly enjoyed Oliver’s debut [b:Before I Fall|6482837|Before I Fall|Lauren Oliver|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361044695l/6482837._SY75_.jpg|6674135], disliked the first two books in the Delirium series but figured this would be fun. Now I wonder if my sixth sense was on vacation that day.
There is an extremely slow-moving plot where unnecessary drama gets in the way. There’s ridiculous insta-love, and poorly developed relationships. There are frustrating characters with very little personality. Dodge ruined the whole story from me, he slapped the reader in the face with his insta-love and cringe-worthy inner monologue. Heather shifted from pale and uninteresting to a character with a strong backstory. There’s so much wasted potential here.
The whole book felt vague, and it was difficult to picture it in my head. The game itself was a little silly and confusing. It was oddly plotted, and we found out rather essential character background in the last 25% of the book.
And lastly, the writing. There are some truly awful passages here, and every chapter made me cringe. Could this really be by the same author who wrote Before I fall, the tender and realistic novel that was such an emotional journey to read? With writing that had a natural flow and wasn’t too flowery but effective. Even Delirium had its moments. Panic on the other hand, drove me crazy with its metaphors, and many passages are just… way too weird for me. I can’t tell whether it was supposed to be comical or poetic. Either way, I loathed it.
It seemed somehow surprising that Nat Velez, with her thick, perfect hair and slicked lip-gloss lips, would speak so frankly about a subject most people avoided. It was like hearing a supermodel fart: surprising and kind of thrilling.
Um… TMI much?
Her hair was fixed low, in a side ponytail, and she was wearing a ruffled yellow jumper-type thing, with the shirt and shorts attached, that would have looked stupid on someone else. But on her it looked amazing, like she was some kind of life-size, exotic Popsicle.
LIFE-SIZE. EXOTIC. POPSICLE. I refuse to even comment on this.
(..)A two-story structure, all dark, that might have been nice one hundred years ago. Now it looked like a person whose soul had been sucked out through his asshole.
Thank you for the imagery, Lauren Oliver.
To top it all off, the third person past tense disturbed me and made the characters very distant.
Unless I feel masochistic and pick up the conclusion to the Delirium series, this is the final book I will read by Oliver.
Panic falls in a completely different category, named Why on earth did I pick this up? I’ve given this author two, three, four chances.. why do I keep going back to her books? This was the last straw. I thoroughly enjoyed Oliver’s debut [b:Before I Fall|6482837|Before I Fall|Lauren Oliver|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361044695l/6482837._SY75_.jpg|6674135], disliked the first two books in the Delirium series but figured this would be fun. Now I wonder if my sixth sense was on vacation that day.
There is an extremely slow-moving plot where unnecessary drama gets in the way. There’s ridiculous insta-love, and poorly developed relationships. There are frustrating characters with very little personality. Dodge ruined the whole story from me, he slapped the reader in the face with his insta-love and cringe-worthy inner monologue. Heather shifted from pale and uninteresting to a character with a strong backstory. There’s so much wasted potential here.
The whole book felt vague, and it was difficult to picture it in my head. The game itself was a little silly and confusing. It was oddly plotted, and we found out rather essential character background in the last 25% of the book.
And lastly, the writing. There are some truly awful passages here, and every chapter made me cringe. Could this really be by the same author who wrote Before I fall, the tender and realistic novel that was such an emotional journey to read? With writing that had a natural flow and wasn’t too flowery but effective. Even Delirium had its moments. Panic on the other hand, drove me crazy with its metaphors, and many passages are just… way too weird for me. I can’t tell whether it was supposed to be comical or poetic. Either way, I loathed it.
It seemed somehow surprising that Nat Velez, with her thick, perfect hair and slicked lip-gloss lips, would speak so frankly about a subject most people avoided. It was like hearing a supermodel fart: surprising and kind of thrilling.
Um… TMI much?
Her hair was fixed low, in a side ponytail, and she was wearing a ruffled yellow jumper-type thing, with the shirt and shorts attached, that would have looked stupid on someone else. But on her it looked amazing, like she was some kind of life-size, exotic Popsicle.
LIFE-SIZE. EXOTIC. POPSICLE. I refuse to even comment on this.
(..)A two-story structure, all dark, that might have been nice one hundred years ago. Now it looked like a person whose soul had been sucked out through his asshole.
Thank you for the imagery, Lauren Oliver.
To top it all off, the third person past tense disturbed me and made the characters very distant.
Unless I feel masochistic and pick up the conclusion to the Delirium series, this is the final book I will read by Oliver.
harleyrae's review against another edition
4.0
I'm surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did. I actually really enjoyed this. I felt there was something's that could have been done better but all around I did enjoy it.
Panic is a game where only graduated seniors can play. And the winner of the game walks with 50000-60000, and in a small town like carp everyone wants to win. But panic is like most games, in this game you must face your worst fears without chickening out. The games can be dangerous and one slip can mean death. But for Heather and Dodge they are willing to risk it.
One thing I didn't like was the duel perspectives, I really wish the whole book followed one person. I think we would have been able to better connect with the characters.
I also wish we spent more time on the challenges. Considering the book is mainly about this game called panic I felt we spent very little time actually on the game itself.
All in all I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone wanting an exciting contemporary read.
Panic is a game where only graduated seniors can play. And the winner of the game walks with 50000-60000, and in a small town like carp everyone wants to win. But panic is like most games, in this game you must face your worst fears without chickening out. The games can be dangerous and one slip can mean death. But for Heather and Dodge they are willing to risk it.
One thing I didn't like was the duel perspectives, I really wish the whole book followed one person. I think we would have been able to better connect with the characters.
I also wish we spent more time on the challenges. Considering the book is mainly about this game called panic I felt we spent very little time actually on the game itself.
All in all I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone wanting an exciting contemporary read.
leafblade's review against another edition
2.0
Ultimately stupid, too convenient and really unrealistic. The characters were flat stereotypes and the ending was predictable.
andiemags53's review against another edition
2.0
Meh.....I didn't connect with any of the characters, and the story was a little too far fetched for me. The ending was so rushed and seemed like the author just wanted to hurry and have a happy ending. Disappointing for sure.
cala_p's review against another edition
3.0
Panic has so much good feedback on it, but to be honest I didn't think it was as good as people make it out to be. The premise of this book is super cool, but as for the actual tale within the book, not so much. I wasn't as impressed as I would have thought I'd be, that's for sure. It will not be one I reread.
protoman21's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this book. I wanted to LOVE this book. I'm not sure if I put too much hope behind this, for it to live up to those high expectations, or if it just was a fairly average novel with a ton of lost potential. No, I wasn't looking for a carbon copy of The Hunger Games, but I was hoping for something with a little more bite to it. The game of Panic is extremely dangerous and you have to suspend belief just to accept that this continues to happen in a small town for years and nobody has stepped in to stop these kids from putting themselves in life or death situations for a non-life-changing amount of money. That said, the death games the kids play were not very creative and didn't add much excitement or drama to the book. Underneath that is the characters and their relationships. A solid base where you love the characters and root for them completely could have saved this novel, but unfortunately they came up a little short. Not a lot short, but although I was fond of Heather and Dodge and did sympathize with their problems, I didn't connect on a deep level with either of them, and Nat was just that...a gnat. I didn't like the way she treated herself or other people. She wasn't all bad, but without getting her internal dialog, we never got a strong idea of who she was and what motivated her actions. Also the romances were pretty ho-hum, been there done that.
joana_stormblessed's review against another edition
5.0
i loved this book so much!! lauren oliver is a genius and i love her writing.Here is my review: http://bookdiaries.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/panic-lauren-oliver/
astheplotthickens24's review against another edition
2.0
I read this book within a day. The first paragraph was catchy. I've always known that Heather would win, albeit I thought Nat would do a huge betrayal but it turns out I was mistaken. I like the book all in all.
kaysea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
gave STRONGGGG nerve vibes and i loveeee that film, so i defo enjoyed this book
although shockingly, i enjoyed the tv show more than the book?
although shockingly, i enjoyed the tv show more than the book?