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cute_emo_bookboy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
bookishmadness's review against another edition
4.0
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
its_me_roxy's review against another edition
3.0
Overall I'm kind of disappointed with this book. I couldn't get into the characters and I'm completely disappointed with the ending. I was expecting something much bigger. I love Oliver's writing style but the characters fell flat for me here.
izpalm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
3.75
hivequeen's review against another edition
2.0
This book was a little disappointing, honestly. The summary really pulled me in, but the actual story didn't really deliver. First of all, the game Panic itself was a letdown. I was expecting action packed challenges and fierce competition, but instead I got cops breaking up a challenge after a few minutes, and in eventful street crossings. People dropped out of each round much too quickly for my taste, and not in an exciting way. Some of the plot twists (the identity of the judges for example) we're kinda obvious after a little while, so they didn't really bring any excitement into the story. Plus, it seemed like Oliver was trying to stuff the characters' story with every stereotypical, tragic backstory that she possibly could. It was a fairly quick and mildly entertaining read, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.
josephine_r's review against another edition
5.0
This book was so exhilarating and captured a variety of emotions. It was definitely a page tuner for me. I was constantly intrigued and wanted to know what was coming next. Lauren Oliver is a fantastic writer and put together a beautiful novel that frighten me,made me laugh,smile,and even angry but then in itself made it such a beautiful novel.
melonep08's review against another edition
3.0
This book was okay for me. I liked the whole concept of the game 'panic' and I was satisfied with the way the story planned out. However, I just didn't feel any connection with the main characters that made me root for them or feel emotional towards them. Other than Heather's being self conscious about her height (which I get, I totally do) I just couldn't relate to them.
emerygirl's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book!! My son, Ryan, recommended it to me, and I started knowing nothing about it, except that I kind of liked the delirum series, also by Laurn Oliver. I thought it would be a "dystopia" novel, like Ryan is so fond of. Not so. It takes place in real day, and has real life (stupid real life, but still real life) situations. Dumb teenagers!!!!
jnwunder's review against another edition
5.0
It's been ages since I read a book and had almost no complaints at all. The characters aren't very likeable, but they are very human and that's what I loved so much here.
dtsuji92's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75