Book Review | Lauren Oliver's Panic

Last year I read an embarrassingly pathetic 6 books... I always just blamed it on not having enough time or not really getting into a good book but really I was just making excuses. This year I'm trying my best to kick the habit of taking my laptop to bed with me at night and start reading again. Being a student though I don't have money for 3 or 4 new books a month. Then it hit me - if I signed up to a local library I would have access to all the books I could ever read. Luckily my closest one is just five minute away and when I was in browsing I spotted 'Panic' which I recognised from my goodreads 'to-read' list.

"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." 

I very quickly got hooked on the story of the game known as 'Panic' and the relationship between Heather and Bishop. The story is told from two different points of view, Heather and Dodge, who are both playing the game for very different reasons. At the heart of the story is a coming of age tale; It touches on deeper issues too such as peer pressure and family troubles. All four main characters very well written characters who all had so much depth to them. 

It takes stories of dystopian places like 'The Hunger Games' and 'Divergent' and puts them into the modern day. As someone who has not long finished high school it is very believable and terrifying at the same time. Right the way through there are plenty of unanswered questions that made me want to keep reading.

The only thing that disappointed me slightly was the fact it ended rather abruptly. After all the buildup and tension it felt like it just finished.

If you want to follow what I'm reading this year why not add me on goodreads? And if you want to see more book reviews please let me know in the comments.