ARC Review: Panic by Lauren Oliver

Panic by Lauren Oliver

Release Date: 4th March 2014

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pre-Order: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

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.

I was so lucky to get this book from Netgalley for my review. I was so excited to start this amazing book and oh, boy was I not disappointed.

For Heather, Dodge, Nat and Bishop summer won’t going to be ordinary. It is their turn to take part in the every year game taken by high school graduates to compete for money. It’s their way to make a name for themselves, take revenge and have the money to move out from the dead end boring town called Carp.

I had no clue what kind of books this was. I just knew that there was going to be a game with a lot of teenagers and possible danger. My first thoughts were Hunger Games. I thought this was going to be another dystopian book with characters set in a different time, with a weird world, with a rundown government, ect. I was so happy to find out that this book was about typical teenagers set in this century doing typical teenage things.

The idea of the game Panic is well to raise as much panic as possible. Running across a busy street blindfolded, to burning down a haunted house while you’re in there. The idea for this game is quite stupid but brilliant at the same time! I could not figure out why a town would even come up with a game like this, it seems so unrealistic. But it was described beautifully.

Each of the characters has their own story, which I absolutely love. Heather who wants to win the games badly so that her and her little sister Lily can finally move away from the town and start again. Doge who wants to take revenge for this sister’s accident that happened in the game before. Nat who was completely different from the rest of the characters and wanted to become a model and Bishop who wasn’t taking part in the game but was still there for his best friends. All the characters were developed so well they had their own personalities and quirks.

I’ve read one book before by Lauren Oliver and I wasn’t so impressed. Her writing didn’t impress me in Before I Fall but this book is so much different! This book was written in third person and what many authors forget to write about are the feelings of the characters and what they are thinking. Lauren however did not forget! You get the entire picture of the whole story along with emotions.

I cannot praise this book enough! There is action, some romance but it’s not focused on that, friendship, family matters, and a lot of emotions. Seriously. Go and preorder this book right now!