Scan barcode
A review by bookph1le
Panic by Lauren Oliver
2.0
No, I just don't think so. I didn't dislike this book, per se, but there's so much about it that bothers me that I'm erring on the side of two stars, though technically I'd give it 2.5. More complete review to come.
Full review:
I've read several of Lauren Oliver's books now, and I've had trouble with each of them. Oliver is a talented author, but there are some very problematic elements of her books that prevent me from being fully invested in them, and this book is another example. While Oliver excels at creating realistic characters and situations, there are some major flaws to this book that made it impossible for me to really love it. Spoilers to follow.
The first thing that struck me about this book was the realism of the teens' behavior in these books. I'm a former teacher, and it's interesting to me to see the ways in which parents often sanitize the picture of adolescence. Teens are nowhere near as innocent as most people like to think, and I overheard more hair-raising teen conversations during my career than I could recount. The teens in Oliver's book drink, they smoke, they swear, and they engage in risky behavior. Naturally, it's not true that ALL teenagers do these things, but a lot of them do, and I always find it strange to read books in which teens are on their best behavior.
Told from split perspectives, the book mainly focuses on Heather and Dodge, though Bishop and Nat are two of the other main characters. I didn't strongly dislike Heather, but I found her hard to relate to at first. It's not as though human being (not just teenagers) overreact in very dramatic fashion when they go through a breakup, but Heather's motivations for joining Panic are problematic from the beginning. I could buy that she took the leap in a moment of impulse, but the book becomes more muddied as it progresses, and I found this to be a fundamental dishonesty about Heather's character. At some point, she starts insisting that she's in the game for herself and her sister, Lily, and while this may become true, it's not the whole truth. Heather fails to grow because she never acknowledges that she made a very bad and stupid decision on a whim, and it's to the book's detriment. Taking a look at one's actions and learning how to face blame are important parts of growing up, and it was disappointing to me that Heather doesn't do this.
The one character who does is Bishop, but he's problematic as well. His motivations are entirely unclear, and I didn't really buy what seemed to me to be something of a hero complex on his part. Problematic characters are good, but when the bad they do is swept aside, it lessens a book's impact. There are no real, solid consequences to Bishop's actions, which was a letdown.
The worst offenses, though, have to do with Nat and Dodge. Nat does something extremely risky, yet it's never addressed in any real or significant way, and that bothered me. It's the sort of thing that could conceivably happen to a lot of impressionable young women, yet the book pretty much glosses over it. Dodge's issues felt equally glossed over. He has a serious dark side, yet the book seems to make excuses for him. It's not that I wanted to book to be super dark, but I would have respected it more had Dodge not been given an out. Even so, no consideration is given to the serious nature of his decisions, and that's just bad. I don't think I'd call him an evil person, but he has some serious issues, and I don't think the book does a good job of illuminating them.
I also had many problems with Panic itself. Yes, teenagers can and do engage in very risky behavior, but not all teenagers do, yet there's no real character in this book who points out the stupidity of what's happening, and I found that a little hard to swallow. Even if no one directly stands up, at no point does the book present a character who thinks the game is dangerous and stupid and eschews it, which I think was really necessary. It also didn't make sense to me that the adults are so sanguine about it. There are hints that they're concerned, and I simply couldn't buy that they wouldn't spring into action in light of several deaths and life-altering accidents. I've seen communities rocked by serious trauma, and every one of them sprang into action immediately, bringing counselors into schools, implementing programs, setting up educational programs. It really bothers me when YA acts as though adults don't exist, and this book is a particularly egregious example. It's made clear that not all of the parents are indifferent to their children, yet they show an incredible lack of concern about what their kids might be up to.
So why the three stars? This book does a good job of delving into its character's psychology. They're so real that they feel like actual people, and Oliver is good at writing about human misery and basic human kindness. There are some very touching scenes in the book, and some of it is very action-packed. Despite its flaws, I found myself drawn into it, wanting to keep reading so I could find out what happens next. I think Oliver is an author who shows a lot of promise, and if the glaring flaws in her books were eliminated, I have no doubt that I'd find her books strongly compelling. Sometimes I think her work is a little too ambitious, which is what causes it to collapse in on itself, and I hope this will change with future books.
Full review:
I've read several of Lauren Oliver's books now, and I've had trouble with each of them. Oliver is a talented author, but there are some very problematic elements of her books that prevent me from being fully invested in them, and this book is another example. While Oliver excels at creating realistic characters and situations, there are some major flaws to this book that made it impossible for me to really love it. Spoilers to follow.
The first thing that struck me about this book was the realism of the teens' behavior in these books. I'm a former teacher, and it's interesting to me to see the ways in which parents often sanitize the picture of adolescence. Teens are nowhere near as innocent as most people like to think, and I overheard more hair-raising teen conversations during my career than I could recount. The teens in Oliver's book drink, they smoke, they swear, and they engage in risky behavior. Naturally, it's not true that ALL teenagers do these things, but a lot of them do, and I always find it strange to read books in which teens are on their best behavior.
Told from split perspectives, the book mainly focuses on Heather and Dodge, though Bishop and Nat are two of the other main characters. I didn't strongly dislike Heather, but I found her hard to relate to at first. It's not as though human being (not just teenagers) overreact in very dramatic fashion when they go through a breakup, but Heather's motivations for joining Panic are problematic from the beginning. I could buy that she took the leap in a moment of impulse, but the book becomes more muddied as it progresses, and I found this to be a fundamental dishonesty about Heather's character. At some point, she starts insisting that she's in the game for herself and her sister, Lily, and while this may become true, it's not the whole truth. Heather fails to grow because she never acknowledges that she made a very bad and stupid decision on a whim, and it's to the book's detriment. Taking a look at one's actions and learning how to face blame are important parts of growing up, and it was disappointing to me that Heather doesn't do this.
The one character who does is Bishop, but he's problematic as well. His motivations are entirely unclear, and I didn't really buy what seemed to me to be something of a hero complex on his part. Problematic characters are good, but when the bad they do is swept aside, it lessens a book's impact. There are no real, solid consequences to Bishop's actions, which was a letdown.
The worst offenses, though, have to do with Nat and Dodge. Nat does something extremely risky, yet it's never addressed in any real or significant way, and that bothered me. It's the sort of thing that could conceivably happen to a lot of impressionable young women, yet the book pretty much glosses over it. Dodge's issues felt equally glossed over. He has a serious dark side, yet the book seems to make excuses for him. It's not that I wanted to book to be super dark, but I would have respected it more had Dodge not been given an out. Even so, no consideration is given to the serious nature of his decisions, and that's just bad. I don't think I'd call him an evil person, but he has some serious issues, and I don't think the book does a good job of illuminating them.
I also had many problems with Panic itself. Yes, teenagers can and do engage in very risky behavior, but not all teenagers do, yet there's no real character in this book who points out the stupidity of what's happening, and I found that a little hard to swallow. Even if no one directly stands up, at no point does the book present a character who thinks the game is dangerous and stupid and eschews it, which I think was really necessary. It also didn't make sense to me that the adults are so sanguine about it. There are hints that they're concerned, and I simply couldn't buy that they wouldn't spring into action in light of several deaths and life-altering accidents. I've seen communities rocked by serious trauma, and every one of them sprang into action immediately, bringing counselors into schools, implementing programs, setting up educational programs. It really bothers me when YA acts as though adults don't exist, and this book is a particularly egregious example. It's made clear that not all of the parents are indifferent to their children, yet they show an incredible lack of concern about what their kids might be up to.
So why the three stars? This book does a good job of delving into its character's psychology. They're so real that they feel like actual people, and Oliver is good at writing about human misery and basic human kindness. There are some very touching scenes in the book, and some of it is very action-packed. Despite its flaws, I found myself drawn into it, wanting to keep reading so I could find out what happens next. I think Oliver is an author who shows a lot of promise, and if the glaring flaws in her books were eliminated, I have no doubt that I'd find her books strongly compelling. Sometimes I think her work is a little too ambitious, which is what causes it to collapse in on itself, and I hope this will change with future books.