By: Lauren Oliver
Release Date: March, 4th 2014
Publisher: Harper Collins
Carp, a small city located in New York with only 12,000 people, is like a big cage for everyone.
It's summer and there's nothing to do. So there's Panic. No one really knows how it began.
Panic is a game where you put your life on the stake to win a pot worth $50,000 that can put an end to your miserable and boring life in Carp. This year, the price is bigger; $67,000 and the stake is even higher.
Heather is one of the contestant, alongside with her best friend, Nat. There's also this guy named Dodge. He's not the popular guy in high school, but he's determined to join Panic. He has purpose. He has his own secret and he's not planning on telling anyone or let the other contestants ruin his own plan to get into the final stage of Panic.
I guess that sums it up.
If you read the synopsis, you could misunderstood this book as the next The Hunger Games in contemporary version. Believe me, it's not.
Sure this is a book about a survival game with a huge prize, but it's no Hunger Games.
This is my first Lauren Oliver's book and need to admit, I'm impressed. Lots of saying that her writing style is good and I believe it's true. Panic is in third person writing style and divided into two plot lines. I really like the whole concept of the writing. It gives me different perspectives on the characters.
The premise of this book is really good. I love the feeling of the high school-ish in this book. Remind me everything sweet from my high school moments.
The fact that this is a stand alone novel, I got to say Lauren Oliver did a great job.
The pacing was okay. I find it neither slow nor fast. Just the right speed.
I really love how the game and the process of it described. It gave me the right amount of suspense and tension. Most of the time, I just couldn't stop moving because I felt so anxious. I was totally sucked into the story. I was going all, "NO DON'T DO THAT DON'T!", "SHOOT! IS IT FOR REAL?", and "BE CAREFUL, HEATHER!"
What really disappointed me was the plot. The whole plot of this book was predictable. Every twist and turn in this book wasn't working really well. Lauren Oliver thought she was throwing a huge nuclear bomb but really it didn't affect anything. The explosion wasn't big enough.
What really bugged me was the characters. The whole characters in this book were all disappointing. They were all boring and cliche. I was expecting more from Lauren Oliver. I felt so disconnected from the characters.
The main character, Heather, is like this beautiful blonde girl who just got dumped by her boyfriend and becoming this whining little bitch. I feel totally disconnected from her. I kept expecting she would get better as the book went on, but though she was indeed getting better, I still had no empathy for her.
My top hated character goes to Nat. Is she taken from that antagonist character in a shitty teenager movie? Seriously..... Like why is she even in this book? She's so cliche and boring. Not to mention, a total bitch. Just a big no!
Among other characters, I was clinging to Dodge. He was okay. As a character, he was the most determined. Though sometimes he's acting a little bit annoying and I just wanted to punch him, he was the better one.
I don't want to start about how the love story goes. It sucked. Like the worst kind of suck love story. Period.
Overall, it was quite enjoyable. Not the best, but it was an easy and fast read. I won't really recommend this book if you're looking for something good, but give it a try for a simple and easy read.
If you've read it, tell me about how you feel about this book.
For me, it's only worth 3 out of 5 stars. Mostly because the dull characters. *sigh*
