Tuesday 12 July 2016

Mini-Review! - Panic by Lauren Oliver


Title: Panic

Author: Lauren Oliver

Genre: YA, Contemporary


Amazon: UK - USA




Verdict:

Ahhh summers as a teen. Long lazy days of such wholesome activities as... walking across a main road blindfolded and... playing Russian roulette.

No? Yeah, me neither. But in the no-hope town of Carp, New York, this is what summer means to the high school's graduating class.

Every year, the seniors play Panic. A game where people get hurt.

Why take the risk? Because the prize is enough money to get the hell out of Carp - and that's what most of these kids want.








This book was a) well-written, b) full of complex characters and real life problems and c) generally awesome.

BUT DO NOT TAKE THESE CHARACTERS AS ROLE MODELS.

THE DECISIONS ARE SOOOO BAD! BAD DECISIONS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!

That said, the decisions, despite their stupidity, are realistic ones. You can see desperate teens doing these things, just because they feel so trapped.

I liked our protagonists - there's a duel point of view from seniors Heather and Dodge - but I so wanted to scream at them to NOT DO THE THING.

But this is an awesomely readable book - it may be a cliché, but it really was a page-turner.

I also loved the realism here - not gritty for the sake of it, but most definitely not sugar-coated either.

Oh, there's some swearing, a dash of violence, and references to sexy-times, but nothing your average teenager can't handle!










6 comments:

  1. I'm glad you enjoyed this one!! 😂 I was SO annoyed at the characters and their dumb decisions, omg. Like did they honestly not care if they lived or died??! AGHHH. But it was exciting and definitely a page turner for me too!!
    :D

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    1. I know! It's like: WHY ARE YOU DOING THE THING, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT, I TOLD YOU NOT TO, AND THIS IS LIKE THE STUPID THING FROM EVERY HORROR FILM EVER AND YOU'RE STILL DOING IT!!!!! :)

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  2. I really liked this book! It was very thrilling and a real page turner, I was so engaged! But I agree, those characters were so stupid sometimes.

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    1. I really enjoyed it too - but my God were those kids bad role models! Lol ;)

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  3. I have been curious about trying out a Lauren Oliver book for a long time but just haven't done so yet! It sounds like the reader can see the bad decisions coming from a mile away, but that they are realistic which makes them bearable haha :d

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    1. Yup. Pretty much! :) (And playing Russian Roulette is never a good decision!)

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