Panic by Lauren Oliver: Review

Panic by Lauren Oliver: Book Review

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.

Panic is a new Young-adult book written by Lauren Oliver, the author of the very famous 'Delirium' trilogy. Panic was my first Lauren Oliver book and I had high expectations going in, not only did the premise sound cool but it was one of my most anticipated reads of this year, Needless to say I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't perfect, I did have a few problems but for the most part it was very thrilling and extremely hard to put down. This book was a very fast-read, which is really good if you want a quick, heart racing book, however it wasn't as deep as I was expecting. 

Characters:

The main issue I had with this novel was the characters, I didn't really like any of them and they were very flat and quite frankly boring. I thought Heather got quite interesting towards the end, but for the most part she was very mary-sue (ish). Dodge was [probably my favourite character because of how twisted he was, but I still didn't like him, I just thought he was an interesting character to read about. I hated Natalie so much, I don;t even want to get into that, she was so annoying and was too melodramatic. If I had to choose a favourite character it would probably be Tiger #2, but I did think Tiger #1 had more depth to it. (sarcastic tone)

Plot:

The plot was my favourite part of the book, it was very fast paced and was really exciting, however I did have one major issue, the end. The ending was very rushed and I thought it could of been longer, it just felt very 'meh' and bland. The last challenge was supposed to be dramatic and shocking, but it just wasn't. If I had to do one challenge, it would probably be the tiger one, because it was only for ten seconds and I like tigers! 

Overall this book was really good, nut I feel it could of been better by having a more shocking end and more interesting characters. It was a fun read and I would recommend it to people who want a exciting, thrilling book that doesn't take much effort to read. I would rate this 4/5 stars.