Review: Panic by Lauren Oliver

A high adrenaline and fist pumping ride

Title: Panic
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
My ratings: 3 out of 5 stars
Released: 16th March, 2014
I saw Panic being discussed a long time ago on blogs and on Twitter and I had my eye on it for a while. This is my first book by Lauren Oliver and I'll admit I went into it with some amount of trepidation as to how will I find this acclaimed author. I needn't have worried as Panic dispelled all of my doubts and fears.

Panic centers around a game played by graduating high school students in a small town called Carp. It is told in the point of views of Dodge and Heather who decide to play Panic for various other reasons.The students have a to participate in a number of challenges from jumping from cliff to running into a highway and the winner takes a pot of money at the end.

To be honest I did not like any of the characters in the story.Saying that I still felt invested to see where the plot was taking these imperfect and rough-around-the-edges characters. Dodge and Heather both felt so real to me, with there own problems and issues and their different ways of dealing with it.

While reading I was hoping that perhaps there will be a growth to the characters and they will change for the better but as the story unfolded I felt that instead of improving and becoming a better person, somehow they were spiraling deeper and deeper into the deep end. However in the end I realised that I didn't want them to become a better person. I enjoyed reading about these characters who were flawed and kept making irrational and hasty decisions.

It took me a little while to get into the plot as I felt that the characters were a little difficult to get used to and the plot was not something exciting to croon over. I may also add that my enjoyment of this book is totally down the wonderful writing that Lauren Oliver put down. It was character driven and the high adrenaline situations keeps the reader going.

Overall Panic was an entertaining, keep you on the edge of your seat read. It portrays teenagers how they are, not some ideal version which we want to beloved, but flawed, complex and with an edge.

Review copy received from Hodder and Stoughton, UK