Panic

Written by Lauren Oliver

Narrated by Sarah Drew

An utterly gripping thriller from best-selling author Lauren Oliver. Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a poor 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.

In this gritty, spellbinding novel, best-selling author Lauren Oliver delivers a gripping narrative of friendship, courage, survival, and hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette UK Audio
• Release date: Mar 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781444789577

Lauren Oliver

Lauren Oliver is the cofounder of media and content development company Glasstown Entertainment, where she serves as the President of Production. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of the YA novels Replica, Vanishing Girls, Panic, and the Delirium trilogy: Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem, which have been translated into more than thirty languages. The film rights to both Replica and Lauren's bestselling first novel, Before I Fall, were acquired by Awesomeness Films. Before I Fall was adapted into a major motion picture starring Zoey Deutch. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017, garnering a wide release from Open Road Films that year. Oliver is a 2012 E. B. White Read-Aloud Award nominee for her middle-grade novel Liesl & Po, as well as author of the middle-grade fantasy novel The Spindlers and The Curiosity House series, co-written with H.C. Chester. She has written one novel for adults, Rooms. Oliver co-founded Glasstown Entertainment with poet and author Lexa Hillyer. Since 2010, the company has developed and sold more than fifty-five novels for adults, young adults, and middle-grade readers. Some of its recent titles include the New York Times bestseller Everless, by Sara Holland; the critically acclaimed Bonfire, authored by the actress Krysten Ritter; and The Hunger by Alma Katsu, which received multiple starred reviews and was praised by Stephen King as “disturbing, hard to put down” and “not recommended…after dark.” Oliver is a narrative consultant for Illumination Entertainment and is writing features and TV shows for a number of production companies and studios. Oliver received an academic scholarship to the University of Chicago, where she was elected Phi Beta Kappa. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from New York University. www.laurenoliverbooks.com.

Reviews for Panic

[wanderlustlover_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is compared to too many of it's YA counterparts as being not enough different at the beginning, but I have to admit I really loved this book. It's strange, and bare, and it's sparse everywhere. But there's a place for that in literature, too. I did not always see everything coming and certain things were far too obvious from the very first time I saw a hint of them.

I thought the romances were a little convenient, but I madly, truly, deeply loved the best friends, trio of friends, and the family bonds for everyone and between everyone. They were so perfectly imperfect that I could see myself, my friends and people I knew shining through the realism of ups, down, opinions, mistakes, loyalty, everything.

[carol420 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Panic is a secret game that pits player against player in mental and physical challenges designed to push them to the breaking point. Heather Nill never planned or dreamed that she would play...but felling she had nothing to loose and everything to gain... she’s in. Nothing is going to keep her from walking away with enough money to get away from this small town with an evil at it's heart. Impossible to think that anyone or anything could even conceive of a game like this. The story grabs you early on, and even though all the time you think.."how ridiculous this is that anyone would even do this for any amount of money"...you find you are caught up in the game until the very last page.

[winterdragon-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was spoiled by reading Lauren Oliver’s previous books. I first red Before I Fall then I read the Delirium Trilogy, and I fell in love with all four books and with Miss Oliver herself. Her writing style flowed well, the story lines and plots were interesting, and the characters were relatable. Panic, however, did not live up to my expectations. Panic centers around high school seniors in a small town named Carp. The seniors graduated and the summer after graduation any senior is allowed to compete in the game, in ‘Panic.’ Sounded like an interesting concept when I first heard of the book, but it was a letdown.

The two main characters are Heather and Dodge who both have their own personal reasons for competing in Panic. For Dodge playing Panic was for revenge. His older sister competed in the game and in the last challenge, the joust, she was paralyzed. Dodge decides a brother for a sister, and wants the little brother to pay for what his older brother did. I love the story line of revenge and how it eats up a person. Dodge was full of grief at what happened to his sister and what she couldn't do that he stopped seeing his sister. I love his character at first but I didn't think he actually had any development throughout the story. Dodge is not the one who decides to not exact his revenge; Heather and her best friend stopped him. Dodge was filled with revenge that the idea of not completing the game angered him, even when his sister tried to stop him.

Heather entered the game on a whim after seeing her (ex)-boyfriend kiss another girl. She continues to compete for her little sister, Lily, and to get out of Carp. Heather’s home life was atrocious. Her mother has different men in and out of her life and is a drug addict. Through certain events that happen during the book it looks like Heather is going to start to pursue custody of Lily. Heather’s character was much more appealing to me than Dodge’s. Oliver wrote the book going back and forth between Heather and Dodge, and Heather’s chapters were the ones I wanted to read.

Overall, though, the book was a disappointment. I kept reading because of my love of Oliver’s previous books and with the hope that it would get better. The story line and plot ended up being boring for myself. And I know in the first few pages it says Panic was created out of boredom but I was still hoping for a reveal of why at the end. However, the pace of the book made it a quick read and never truly slows down. But I would recommend one of Oliver’s other books before this one.

2.5/5

[amillion-863749 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ok, I'm officially taking a break from young adult books for a while. While this was a pretty good listening candy while on long bike rides, just not what I want to be feeding into my head. Recent high school graduates choose to take part in a game of "Panic" involving dangerous stunts that become ever more stupid in order to win a pot of money collected throughout the year from all seniors ($67K). Typical teenage relationships and peer pressure.

[edensteffey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book. It had a lot of good sub-plots and i liked the way the relationships developed between the charaters.

[laura.w.douglas · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not bad. Not as good as her other, but not bad.

[kimfalconer · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars. I'm going to review it on my 11th House Blog and will elaborate more when I do.

It was fast-paced, engaging, and had a edge-o-seat premise. There were a few gaps in editing with repeated words and phrases, and a few plot-stoppers for me, but overall a good book and an insightful read.

[cathishaw · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Okay, I'm just going to start by saying that this is by far my favourite summer read so far! I loved this book. I could not put it down.The story is told from the point of view of Heather and Dodge (although Heather is definitely the main character). They are acquaintances, joined together by a dangerous, high stakes game called "Panic".The pacing in this book was excellent. It is on par with Oliver's other works (Delirium and Before I Fall being my favourites). There is tons of adventure and danger, a bit of romance, a splash of mystery and a lot of true angst.I fell in love with the main character, Heather, and her struggles with a difficult home life, the adjustments a new high school graduate makes and her changing relationship with her best friend, Bishop.It's hard for me not slip into spoilers with this book, so I'm just going to say: READ IT!

[bookishthings · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think the premise of this book is interesting, but the characters left it feeling a little flat.

I think the game of Panic is amazing. It’s dangerous, and scary as hell. It’s not something I’d ever participate in, but I can see why others would. I had to know what the next challenge was while I was reading. Each one is deadlier than the previous one. I was freaking out while reading some of them.

Panic is told from the perspectives of Heather and Dodge. I had a hard time with them as narrators because I felt like they didn’t have much of a personality. They both have had hard lives, and ones that I wish wasn’t a reality. But the way they portrayed things felt like it lacked passion, I guess. I didn’t feel their anger, or anything. It’s like it just happened. I’m not sure that makes sense, but it does in my head. lol

While the characters left me wanting more, the story is engaging.

[heatherlinc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Lauren Oliver book that I really liked. Panic is a game that has been created for senior students about to graduate from high school in the small, rural town of Carp. The challenges are risky, scary and increasingly dangerous, where accidents and death occur. The chapters alternate between Heather and Dodge, two competitors in this year's Panic. Although I usually like alternating points of view, I didn't like how the chapters were told in the third person, and Dodge seemed more like a secondary character than a main protagonist. However, despite some gaps in the plot, "Panic" moved along at a fast pace, with more and more secrets being revealed along the way, which made for a surprisingly entertaining read.

[jessie_bear_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

With more than $50,000 at stake and a way out of her desolate small town, Heather impulsively enters Panic, a dangerous game played every summer by graduated high school seniors. The concept of the game of Panic – six challenges moderated by secret judges, a fierce competition where players can get hurt – may not be fully believable with its layers of secrecy and organization, but is a convincing exaggeration of very real high school senior games and competitions (e.g. water wars). The town of Carp sets a backdrop perfect for Panic, with players desperate to win their way out of town, and conveniently abandoned or unsupervised areas to complete the challenges. Some of Oliver’s characters are better developed than others and while Heather is fortunately among the less grating characters, some of the supporting cast isn’t so fortunate. In particular, her best friend Nat reads as rather obnoxious (a fact not helped by the audiobook narrator voicing this character excessively shrill) and Lily, her younger sister, is supposedly eleven but is at times written as if her character were five. Like the characters, Panic’s plot is also uneven, with some of it being enjoyable and well paced, but some elements of it being flat-out groan inducing. Certain twists are hammered on a bit hard and it should be obvious who wins Panic before long, possibly before even starting the book. Still, readers might enjoy the adventures of Heather and her friends and will be kept on edge during the game’s challenges. A good choice for Lauren Oliver fans, Panic is recommended for ages fourteen and up.

[cablesclasses · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enter an impoverished rural community full of teenager dreams of leaving for the big city life. Now enter the town where the graduating class participates in an annual contest where the winner gets the grand prize worth thousands--the ticket to leaving the town--the ability to leave behind family sorrows and start a new life. Friendships will be renewed and broken and made stronger. The impending finale promises to push readers to the end.

[englisherna · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was actually really good. That's for me, though. I see mixed reviews but I really liked it.
I was just kinda disappointed by some characters' slowness and I think that Lauren Oliver isn't really good with ending her books *coughs*Requiem*coughs* but other than that, this book was full of suspense and action and some really heart-pounding scenes.

[acargile-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Panic by Lauren Oliver is a tense novel and overcoming fear in order to take home $67,000.The setting is in Carp, NY, and everyone is desperate. Desperate to get out. So desperate they will risk their lives. After graduation, seniors are required to put money in the pot and anyone can participate in the game Panic in order to win the money. It begins with jumping off a cliff into water. Heather has no intention of participating; but, when her boyfriend dumps her, she finds himself jumping. Throughout the summer, Heather, Bishop, Nat, and Dodge navigate the increasingly dangerous game while trying to elude the police who want to stop it. If anyone gives the police information, he/she is severely punished. In this atmosphere of desperation, lying may be the only way to survive.Heather loves her little sister and wants out of Carp because her mother is a drunk drug addict; Nat wants a career as an actress or model and is willing to do whatever it takes; Bishop is heading to college and only wants Heather safe; and, Dodge wants revenge for his sister's accident in Panic a few years ago that left her paralyzed. Only one person can win, so how can these four help each other yet be the last one standing with the money?This novel has mature content. These are kids from difficult lives who use coarse language because they see it at home and school. I think this will be a popular book because it's intense--almost too intense. The characters are their own worst enemies and then they each have their own secrets. The suspense comes in whether their secrets can be revealed before someone dies. There are death-defying challenges, tigers, tense relationships, and desperation to hook you in.

[constancemccauley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book started off slow for me. I tried starting it a few times and couldn't get into it. Once I finally sat down and forced myself to read past the first few chapters I was hooked. I couldn't wait to see what the Judges would think of next, and ultimately who would win Panic.

[jrlibrary · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The plot is interesting; almost an entire graduating senior year is involved in dares, hoping to win the big payoff. The goal is to be the last person who refuses to back down from one of the dares. The problem is that some of those dares are resulting in deaths, and it is no longer harmless fun. Thrilling and original.Having said that, it won't be on my middle school shelves; too mature. I'll be sending it along to my high school.

[staciesnape-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've been a fan of Lauren Oliver for a few years now, first with Before I Fall and then with Delirium series and when I heard about Panic I was pretty excited. Sure the cover though beautiful doesn't give much away, sure its suppose to be a dystopian book but there's absolutely nothing futuristic about it, but it was still a good book. I heard one person compare it to The Hunger Games , I'm not exactly sure why they think thank as its nothing like it, if anything it reminds me strongly of The Scorpio Races which seen as I loved that book (and massively wish it was a series) it is nothing but a good thing.The book is set from two peoples point of views, Heather a strong minded girl who's had a hard life with a great group of friends and Dodge, a loner with a hard life of his own. Both have their own reason's for entering Panic, both desperate to win to make a better life for their sisters. Heather is a very timid girl at first, but with the help of Panic and determination she really comes out of her shell and we see that she isn't as scared as we and she thinks. Dodge is a stranger character, at first he comes across as shy from his obviously lack of social interaction, but then when we get further into the book it becomes apparent that his intentions might not be as innocent as we once thought.We also have two other sub characters who are just as important. Natalie and Bishop, Heathers best friends. Natalie is also in Panic, for nothing other than the money. she seems pretty hell bent on being famous and escaping Carp. Bishop is always there for Heather, and is pretty much one of my favourite characters. All of them, no matter how big or small, together or a mess are brilliant. The thing I love about Lauren Oliver is that she puts so much effort into building up her characters from the ones who are just in it for a chapter to the main ones.The more the story goes on, the harder the game gets. Sometimes through it my heart was in my throat or I was very on edge, sometimes it dragged (very little) but I loved the development of the characters and the relationships, I love how for the most of it I never knew what was going to happen. I loved the originality of the idea. I really just liked the book in general. It had its ups and downs, like every book, but overall it was a really good book and I'm glad I read it :)

[dpappas_25 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nobody believed that Panic would stop, of course. The game must go on. The game always went on.I have read all of Lauren Oliver's previous work and enjoyed them so when this book came out I knew I was going to add it to my tbr pile. This book mainly follows two teenagers (Heather and Dodge) living in small town Carp, New York. For the past fear years after graduation the seniors take place in a game called Panic. The game is very dangerous at times and people have died or been seriously injured while playing it. The risk may be great but so is the reward as the pot this year is $67,000. Money isn't the sole motivation for everyone playing the game, sometimes a person's motivation is more sinister than that.I felt like Heather and Dodge were great main characters for this book. Both have their hardships and both have different reasons for playing Panic. I connected a bit more with Heather because I felt like Dodge was a bit too annoying and naive at times. Both Heather and Dodge become close to Heather's best friends (Nat and Bishop) during the game but Panic, as it usually does, threatens to tear their bonds apart.I have a few problems with this book. My first problem with it was that the major twists in the book were obvious from pretty early on in the book. I'm not even sure you could really call it a twist since it was so obvious. Also how in the hell were these kids able to raise $67,000? It briefly explains how they got the pot but quite honestly it seemed like with the amount of people in their graduating class that $67,000 is completely unrealistic. If Panic is such a dangerous game then how come the parents and police didn't shut it down? The police tried a bit but it just seemed like they were stumbling around. I can't believe that a dangerous game where people have been killed would have been allowed to continue on.While I did enjoy this and read it really fast I still had my doubts about the plausibility of some of the plot. If you've liked Lauren Oliver's previous work then you will enjoy this book.

[mirandalg14 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thanks to Edelweiss for access to this title.

Another original story from Oliver. The entire premise was interesting. A small town, a big challenge, and winner's pot worth enough to take that winner away and kick-start their dreams. All with the chance of dismemberment or death. I think fans of the author will really enjoy this new story.

[bookswithbite · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When this book first landed in my hands, I thought it was some sort of drug or dream universe. I honestly did not expect it to be the ultimate dare.Plot: This is about a small town that offers one thing: Freedom. That freedom comes with a price. The price of a bet worth thousands of dollars and only one person wins. In order to when this obscene amount of money you must complete dares. Now these aren’t just small dares. They are dangerous. The more you complete you make it to the next level. Not all make it to the next level. Some get seriously hurt and other times they die. Since it is in a small town, the cops act like they don’t know about it. But if your caught, its jail time. I have to admit that this premise alone in the first chapter suddenly took me in.Panic: Panic derives from fear. You get dares on doing very dangerous and stupid things. Yet it is every entertaining to watch it all go down. It played like a movie in my mind, watching these competitors compete for their freedom. Some wanted they money to just be rich but others wanted it cause they needed a head start to leave the small town. So I can get their motives. Half-way through the book I felt it so connected with characters. I felt their fear but most of all their yearning to leave that small town and that panic was their only answer.Ending: I think this story played out very well. Between the dares and the drama ensuing their everyday lives, I felt like this story has a lot to give to the reader. The relationships these characters has to trouble to that came upon them, Panic is certainly a story that plays out differently then most YA books. An equally effective story, Panic is great.

[maboone-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love Lauren Oliver's books, so it didn't surprise me how much I enjoyed PANIC. The challenge feels real, desperate, and quirky, and I fell in love with Heather and Dodge from the first few sentences in each of their alternating POVs. The author has a gift for making you feel for her characters and leaving the reader haunted. This book is no exception. And the end? Read it. That's all I'm saying.

[cinachilders · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really liked this book more than I thought I would. It got some extra bonus points for not being in first person. Certain details on the game Panic does have me a little confused, but I guess I could overlook them enough to enjoy the story. I haven't read anything by Lauren Owen before, so this book helped me discover her. I did feel, though, that I didn't exactly get much closure on Dodge's perspective.

[whitebalcony · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The concept of the game itself began well but ended with a fizzle, and the super surprise judge was no surprise at all. Not up to her usual standard here.

[nicolegorr · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Panic was a pleasant surprise for me, I loved the storyline. I was intrigued by the mysteriousness of the game, imagining what kinds of challenges they would have to do and who the judges were. All of the participants had different motives as well, which all played their part in how the game turned out. Definitely kept me intrigued. Unfortunately this is a stand alone novel, but I look forward to more novels by Lauren Oliver. She never disappoints me!

[lilibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In her boring upstate New York town, Panic is the big deal for graduating seniors. The summer after they graduate, those brave enough engage in a series of challenges determined by anonymous judges. The winner walks away with a pot of money big enough to escape their town.

[kaitlins16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Panic was a thrilling and tense book filled with high stakes and danger. It was a bit like Fear Factor, but with life-or-death tasks and much more at stake than just money. THE THEMESDesperation, greed, and courage were what the biggest themes revolved around. In order to play Panic, the characters had to dig deep for every bit of courage they could spare--they needed it to not just get through the challenges but to forward in life. In the meantime, they all had to deal with the greed they felt for the prize for winning the game (money, a better future, etc.). They all did things out of desperation to win the game or get further in life. There were many other focuses and themes in Panic, but those were the ones that stood out the most to me.THE GAME OF PANICI simply loved the game! I've never seen one like it. At first, I was puzzled over what the point of it was and how it worked, but once I figured it out, the game proved to be very dangerous and exciting. It kept me on my toes--the challenges the characters felt were pretty scary, so I was constantly worried over what would happen to them. The game and its progression from one dangerous task the next, even more dangerous one was the best part of the book for me. It added a lot of excitement to the story, as well as some different twists than I was expecting.HEATHERShe definitely changed over the course of the story, and since character growth is one of my favorite things to see in a book, that stood out to me. Through pushing determinedly through the high risk tasks, she had to muster up much more courage than she ever had. She had to strip away her weakness and start seeing things in a new light in order to win Panic. The main reason for her competing in the game was to give her chance to grow. I loved how the game helped her do that.OVERALLThe minute I discovered this book, I knew it would be a good read for me. And I was right. Panic was my type of book. It was a contemporary with great themes, exciting events, and character growth--some of my favorite things. The game, too, was something that I absolutely love to find in books: a level of freshness. The tasks each player were given made the book feel quite different. Panic was a great read that I already know that I want to reread sometime. If you are looking for an exciting contemporary and haven't given this one a try yet, I suggest doing so. You may enjoy it as much as I did!*I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss in return for an honest review.

[titania86_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Panic is a legendary game played only by high school seniors during the summer in Carp, a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. The game consists of a series of dares that become more and more dangerous as it goes on. Only one winner goes home with thousands of dollars, but many go home with injuries and people have died before. Heather was never really interested in Panic, but participated on a whim after her boyfriend broke up with her. She's terrified every step of the way, but wants to see it to the end. Dodge, on the other hand, has been planning to participate in Panic for a year because of a deep dark secret. He doesn't fear the game at all and is fueled by his secret to do anything to win. Panic will bring both of them new friends, new enemies, shocking revelations, and turn their lives upside down.I read Nerve by Jeanne Ryan a few weeks ago and it's a book that really wanted to be Panic. Panic goes to the extremes that I expected and (way) beyond. Each of the challenges pushes further and further and touches on real fear. However, I felt about half of them were unrealistic in how life threatening they were. $10,000 is not worth anyone's life. It should have been a lot more to make it plausible, but teens have to be able to put together this money, so more money still wouldn't be plausible. Anyway, there are some problems with the concept in general.The characters and writing are what make the book successful. I related to or empathized with each character and their situation. Heather's mother was an abusive drug addict, so Heather took her sister and lived out of their car. Despite her fear, she was a lot stronger than she thought and used her Panic outlook in her real life. Dodge was kind of weird because of his painfully obvious "secret" and his blind need for vengeance. Other than that, he's a decent person who cares for his family. The only character I had no connection with was Nat. She used people, lied, manipulated, and was generally mean to people. There seems to be no reason for people to be her friend or like her in any way. Lauren Oliver's writing never fails to suck me into her stories. I didn't even notice some of the flaws of the book until the very end because of her prose.Panic is a thrilling read, but the logistical problems and one major unlikeable character distracted from the story. It's a decent stand alone book and I would definitely read other books by Lauren Oliver.

[amandacb_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Panic is the latest from teen author Lauren Oliver, who churns out sensational novels that my middle grade readers snap up like candy. Personally, I've never been able to stomach an Oliver novel all the way through, but I did get through Panic.Panic follows a quartet of high school friends in a small New England town as they navigate through an extremely dangerous "game" called Panic. I think that is the most interesting part, the game itself, as it mirrors what teens do today for "fun." It resonates with the "thrills" that our youth will partake without realizing the sometimes deadly consequences. However, this novel loses steam halfway through, when the police "bust" the game. I think having the audience of the town participate with the game would have made the novel more exciting; the novel just seemed to flag and was not intensely interesting.Another plot point I found unbelievable was Anne's tigers. If Anne is as truly caring, rational, and a savior as she is portrayed in the novel, she would not have done such a selfish thing and kept illegal tigers on her property. It is obvious the tigers were a deux ex machina for later plot points in the novel, since they were so incongruous.Overall, though, quite interesting, and it is interesting to discuss this novel with students/young adults and draw parallels to today's society.

[nbmars · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This story begins the day after the protagonists have graduated from high school, at which time the traditional secret game of “Panic” begins. Each participant has to pass a series of ridiculously risky challenges, with two unknown judges (acting via flyers and an anonymous email account) determining what they will be, allocating points, and knocking losers out of the game. The final remaining contestant wins a large pot of money.In the seven years the game has been played, four players have died and one has been left paralyzed. But the prize money - this year it is $67,000 - is too tempting for these teens to resist. They are desperate to get out of of their dead-end small town of Carp, New York, and maybe realize their dreams, most of which are pretty much impossible without lots of cash.The danger involved doesn’t deter them from putting their lives on the line; unfortunately, all of the characters, most of whom come from broken homes, are very deficient in self-esteem, and looking for love in all the wrong places. The focus is primarily on four main protagonists: two females graduates - Heather and Nat, and two males - Bishop and Dodge.Discussion: I found some aspects of the plot very unrealistic. Parents and police are pretty much absent most of the time, especially considering the deaths and life-crippling injuries associated with the game. And the "requirement" that every high school student from this impoverished community contribute $100 each year to the game, and they somehow manage to come up with the money? I wasn’t buying it.I also did not think some of the main characters were especially well-developed. Nat, for example, apparently has obsessive-compulsive disorder, but this complication is only briefly alluded to, and then mostly forgotten. Nevertheless, it probably plays a large role in her behavior which was otherwise unexplained (and inexplicable). Why would Oliver assume most kids would understand this syndrome? Some other issues were only touched upon and then dropped, such as Heather’s insecurity about her size, and her dependence on appeal to boys for her sense of self-worth. Bishops’ behavior also went largely unexplained, even though much of what he did seemed quite contrary to the person he was supposed to be. The character of Dodge was better drawn than the others. His devotion to his paralyzed sister was juxtaposed with the reinforcement he got from her dependence on him, and to his resistance to her improvement because it meant he was less important to her. That complex and contradictory situation was very well done. While the tension level of the book built nicely, the "mystery" of the plot was obvious. I was also disappointed with the cluster of events comprising the ending, which seemed even more unrealistic than the rest of the story. Evaluation: It's hard not to give Oliver consideration after loving some of her other work, particularly the book Before I Fall. But with Panic, I felt there were some problems with story believability and with the characterization, and there were a few examples of overly trite writing (“Nothing and none of us will ever be the same”).

[cloudynight_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed Panic, but I didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped I would. In the book Panic is a game, and throughout the book I think it was the main thing that kept me reading. I liked the characters, but I didn’t particularly love or really care about any of them. I didn’t mind following their stories and their romances, but mostly I just wanted to find out what would happen during Panic and how it would end.The book is told from two points of view, Heather’s and Dodge’s, but I didn’t particularly enjoy one of their stories more. I didn’t really care about either of their romances, but I did appreciate both of their loves for their siblings and what they did for them. Thankfully, neither were characters that I struggled to read because they did not annoy me, but they failed to make me love them.Panic was the best thing about this book. It’s basically a game where a group of teens risk their lives doing challenges so that one of them can eventually win quite a lot of money. For a book about a group of regular teenagers, the challenges they have to complete are pretty extreme, to the point where I was often fearing for people’s lives because what they were doing seemed so crazy sometimes.The challenges in Panic are set by anonymous judges, whether or not it was supposed to be a shock when who those judges were was revealed I’m not sure, but I was able to guess who at least one of the judges was about 1/3-1/2 of the way through the book, the other I was iffy about but was leaning toward the person who it actually was. This made it both fun and a bit annoying, it was fun because I liked figuring it out and waiting for the other characters to figure it out, but also annoying because how could the other characters not see it when to me it was pretty obvious. It would have been even better if I was wrong though.Overall I enjoyed Panic, but it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be. I thought the characters were alright, but Panic was the most interesting thing about the book – 3.75/5