Panic by Lauren Oliver (Review)

Title:           Panic

Author:       Lauren Oliver

 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



Have you ever read a book where the main character had your name?
How did it go?
For me it was horrible and I think that is the reason that this book was lacking for me, because every time I read my own name I cringed. And this made it hard for me to read this book and was left with mixed feelings about the whole thing.

Multiple points of view have become very popular, or I'm just finding more and more books with them. I am not complaining, I really like them. A story told by one person is good you get to that person really well and their story, but having another perspective while reading the same book is more insightful into the other characters in the book.
In this book however it was like watching a movie switching backwards and forwards between the two main characters but I never got attached to either of the characters, because it was written in third person. Perhaps. Or maybe I just didn't like them, or what I got to know about them.

I am not 100 percent positive (or maybe I am) but did you know there is a thing called a job where you can make money to change your life instead of playing a game that if you don't win all you've done is narrowly escaped death a few times? That's what I think of the idea behind Panic (but then where would the story be?)
Could I tell what was going to happen as I was reading? Yes, yes I could and that was annoying I like to not know what is coming next, to be surprised.

Overall, a different read, tolerable but not totally gripping that I had to sit and read the whole book in a hurry.