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.

Review: Requiem by: Lauren Oliver

Requiem (Delirium #3) by: Laruen Oliver (2013)

Publisher: Harper Collins

391 pages

Genre: YA/Dystopian

*This review contains spoilers from the previous books in this series.

Goodreads Summary: They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past. But we are still here. And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancé of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.
Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.
But we have chosen a different road.
And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.
We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

My Review

Delirium hooked me in, Pandemonium got my heart racing and left me with hope, and then came Requiem, the final installment of this unique more than meets the eye trilogy, and it let me rest in peace, for the most part.

I’m going to come right out and say it and talk about the ending first. I’m satisfied. That’s right, I’m sure you have heard by now about the ending of this trilogy that it doesn’t exactly tie up all the loose ends (well now you have anyway). I’m not overly happy, but I can see why it would end this way, without answering every question, and it doesn’t bother me. It gave me hope and that after all is a very important emotion to have. It was almost like it gave the readers a choice, something people that are cured don’t really have. Something worth reading/fighting for if you get my drift.

Now let’s go back to the beginning. When I first started reading this book I was anxious but cautious. I have not yet read the novellas that go along with this series, so I was very hesitant at reading from Hannah’s point of view. I mean she wasn’t even really in the last book and not to sound too cold, but I didn’t really care about her. My focus was on Lena and Alex among some others. Don’t worry Delirium fans I soon changed my mind. Hannah’s perspective added loads of awesomeness to this book. It made everything seem more real, urgent, and important. Oliver seamlessly switched between Lena and Hanna. Not a single time did I get frustrated, and that is saying something.  

What to look forward to when reading this (without giving away any spoilers):

• Oh Alex… I can never get enough of you.
• Julian, I’m still not a fan, but thanks for trying. You are chivalrous.
• We learn a lot more about Lena’s mom.
• Hannah is back in one of the most important roles of the series.
• This book is more about the resistance than anything else. Cue the suspense and action.
• Lauren Oliver doesn't disappoint with more beautiful writing.

I can’t wait to see what more of my fellow bloggers and friends think of the end of this trilogy. Even though it is over… I will always love Alex.

So pretty much I’m telling you to read it. If you are new to this series then you should start from the beginning. If you are already a fan… then what are you waiting for?!

RATING 4/5    Buy Requiem

Review: Pandemonium by: Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium by: Lauren Oliver (2012) 

The Delirium Trilogy, Book 2

375 pages

Genre: YA

Publisher: HARPER

Warning: This review may contain spoilers for the first book in the trilogy, Delirium.

Summary:  Lena has escaped the harsh confines of her society where love is considered to be a disease, and has made it into The Wilds. Without Alex, Lena has no idea where she is headed except that she has to keep running. As soon as she seems to lose hope and life, Raven, the leader of the homestead she becomes a part of, saves her life. Lena learns how to survive and finds out more about the resistance.

Review: Pandemonium starts off exactly where Delirium left, thrusting the reader right into the story with a lot of action. This is a wonderful way to captivate the reader and gives the book a good start.

This novel is told in two time periods, the “then” and the “now.” The “then” time period gives the reader information about Lena’s life in The Wilds after she escaped her oppressive society. The “now” time period gives us glimpses of her life once she has filtrated back into that society. Although at times reading these two time periods simultaneously became frustrating, in reality it made the book that much better; it made it a page turner. These time jumps also give us a chance to really see the difference between the Lena today and the Lena who just escaped into the wilds. We get to see Lena grow and continue to try to figure out who she really is.

The only issue I have with this book is Lena and her idea of love. Obviously because of her age and the society she was raised in, it makes sense that Lena would act like a love struck teenager, but I think it is just a little too much. I don’t want to give anything away, but I just want to warn you that although we all enjoy a good love story in our coming of age dystopian young adult novels, sometimes too much teenage love angst is just too much. However, when you read a good book it makes you feel a whole range of emotions, and this one did just that. I was fuming, shocked, sad, and more with every turn of the page.

In the end Pandemonium does exactly what it should do, makes the reader impossibly impatient for the last installment of the trilogy. (I still think I enjoyed the first book better) If you are a Delirium and Lauren Oliver fan you will enjoy this book. Be warned, once you pick it up you won’t be able to put it down until it is finished. 

Rating: 3.5/5