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Maybe 2.8 stars would be better?
Panic. It's Panic. A game played to face fears or be conquered by them. It's a game to end boredom, and an anticipation for all who watch.
I picked up Panic mainly because Lauren Oliver wrote it. While I was disappointed with the end of the Delirium Trilogy, I'm always looking forward to a new book by her. Funny, there was a day when I wouldn't think twice about reading more than one book/series by the same author. But sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't go back to those days. Sure, some authors pull it off. And sure, it's not like Lauren Oliver can't write, or that the ideas are terrible. It's just...in Panic there was something missing.
Undoubtedly, my all time favourite Lauren Oliver book is [b:Before I Fall|6482837|Before I Fall|Lauren Oliver|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361044695s/6482837.jpg|6674135]. Delirium was a good first novel of a trilogy, Pandemonium was okay, and Requiem. Well Requiem is how I feel about Panic right now. It's missing something, and it was a little bit messy. In Requiem's case, I thought it fell short. In Panic's case, I felt it was messy and difficult in maintaining my attention. I tried hard, really I did, but along with being tired all the time, Panic sent me to bed more often than not.
It's not to say I didn't like anything about this book at all. I liked the idea, I liked the concept, I liked that Oliver doesn't hold back on certain incidents. It gives it a real thriller effect and really shows you a game of fear. It makes it interesting, and Lauren Oliver if pretty clever to write it the way she did.
But that's it. I couldn't really get used to the switching POV of Heather and Dodge. I never really felt like I got to know either of them, or that I really got a satisfactory ending. It felt rushed or something. The third person writing was also surprising too, I was kinda used to Oliver's first person.
Furthermore on character-wise, I disliked Heather, she was unrelateable, Dodge was a little bit better, but I still didn't like him! Bishop may have been the only interesting character, but only just. Nat was...I didn't care for Nat. Lily was adorable as all kids are. But story-wise, even though there were hints along the way, I didn't get the feeling or resolution behind the game that I wanted. I kept asking all along, why is Panic here? I wanted to know the back story (and after seeing on GR that there were going to be more Panic stories -- turns out it was only the prequel short story about how the game began) while I was reading Panic because even if Heather had her own reasons and Dodge had his reasons for playing the game, why and how did it begin kept floating around my mind nagging at me every two seconds so that I couldn't concentrate. I suppose that's my biggest beef about Panic.
Other than that though, it doesn't mean this was a bad book. It has its good points and some may enjoy it. Perhaps I just couldn't get into this book for various reasons, even though I really wanted to, though admittedly, towards the end I got a little bit more interested, but yeah, that's it. The beginning was a little slow (characters, I couldn't feel them) and I missed Oliver's first person narration. There's just something not quite the same about her third person style. Still, give this a try if you want something mysterious and dangerous.
Panic. It's Panic. A game played to face fears or be conquered by them. It's a game to end boredom, and an anticipation for all who watch.
I picked up Panic mainly because Lauren Oliver wrote it. While I was disappointed with the end of the Delirium Trilogy, I'm always looking forward to a new book by her. Funny, there was a day when I wouldn't think twice about reading more than one book/series by the same author. But sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't go back to those days. Sure, some authors pull it off. And sure, it's not like Lauren Oliver can't write, or that the ideas are terrible. It's just...in Panic there was something missing.
Undoubtedly, my all time favourite Lauren Oliver book is [b:Before I Fall|6482837|Before I Fall|Lauren Oliver|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361044695s/6482837.jpg|6674135]. Delirium was a good first novel of a trilogy, Pandemonium was okay, and Requiem. Well Requiem is how I feel about Panic right now. It's missing something, and it was a little bit messy. In Requiem's case, I thought it fell short. In Panic's case, I felt it was messy and difficult in maintaining my attention. I tried hard, really I did, but along with being tired all the time, Panic sent me to bed more often than not.
It's not to say I didn't like anything about this book at all. I liked the idea, I liked the concept, I liked that Oliver doesn't hold back on certain incidents. It gives it a real thriller effect and really shows you a game of fear. It makes it interesting, and Lauren Oliver if pretty clever to write it the way she did.
But that's it. I couldn't really get used to the switching POV of Heather and Dodge. I never really felt like I got to know either of them, or that I really got a satisfactory ending. It felt rushed or something. The third person writing was also surprising too, I was kinda used to Oliver's first person.
Furthermore on character-wise, I disliked Heather, she was unrelateable, Dodge was a little bit better, but I still didn't like him! Bishop may have been the only interesting character, but only just. Nat was...I didn't care for Nat. Lily was adorable as all kids are. But story-wise, even though there were hints along the way, I didn't get the feeling or resolution behind the game that I wanted. I kept asking all along, why is Panic here? I wanted to know the back story (and after seeing on GR that there were going to be more Panic stories -- turns out it was only the prequel short story about how the game began) while I was reading Panic because even if Heather had her own reasons and Dodge had his reasons for playing the game, why and how did it begin kept floating around my mind nagging at me every two seconds so that I couldn't concentrate. I suppose that's my biggest beef about Panic.
Other than that though, it doesn't mean this was a bad book. It has its good points and some may enjoy it. Perhaps I just couldn't get into this book for various reasons, even though I really wanted to, though admittedly, towards the end I got a little bit more interested, but yeah, that's it. The beginning was a little slow (characters, I couldn't feel them) and I missed Oliver's first person narration. There's just something not quite the same about her third person style. Still, give this a try if you want something mysterious and dangerous.