Review: Panic by: Lauren Oliver

Panic by: Lauren Oliver (2014)

Genre: Young Adult Fiction
408 pages

Source: The Library

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.

My Review

I had such high hopes for Panic, BUT

in the end I just felt indifferent toward the whole book. 

I’m not sure if it was my high expectations, my personal mood when I started reading, the fact that I could relate to no one in this book, or simply because Panic was just mediocre. I just wasn’t interested for most of the book.

I can say with certainty that there was one very captivating element of this novel, every time there was an awesome cool dangerous challenge in the competition I was ready for it. 

I was excited. Game on. They were the best parts of the book. I practically skimmed through the rest of the book to get to them. Sadly, they were the only time I felt something and there aren't even that many challenges.

Whenever there wasn’t a challenge going on I looked a little something like this. 

I didn’t care about the characters, I just couldn’t connect with them. Even when I found out how harsh some of these kids’ home lives were, it did nothing to bring me to care about them. I actually did care a little bit for some the characters….in the very last chapter. That is something at least. Otherwise the kids (and adults, cops, everyone) were kind of idiots that I didn't understand.

I realize they are only teenagers, but aren't these kids who will be adults very soon and going away to college? Ugh. I sure hope not. It’s a darker novel, but yet didn’t bring out any strong emotions in me. Sadly, I feel that Oliver just didn’t deliver on this one. It felt like she tried too hard, or maybe just not hard enough. On top of the blah characters, everything seemed pretty predictable to me as well.

However, to the last 100ish pages...

I was finally completely pulled into the story (besides the very beginning for like two pages), but also this book is 400 pages long…so yea I don’t think that is saying much.

The only panic I felt while reading was an overwhelming worry that this book wouldn’t be great, and I was totally right to panic, because it wasn’t. I was very disappointed. I was hoping for something more.

If you are really looking forward to reading Panic don't let me stop you. There are plenty of readers out there who enjoyed Panic, but it just wasn't for me. The whole book was just very bland. I would however recommend Oliver's other novels.