From Goodreads: Ninety-five days, and
then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to
get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid
while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me
yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to
madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you
have it and when you don't.
Thoughts: I chose to listen to this because I needed a new audio and I had enjoyed listening to Panic. The premise also sounded interesting - a world where love is seen as a disease and a cure has been found. Once you reach 18 you can be cured and live a life of blissful happiness, never bothered by those pesky, overwhelming emotions again. Except of course, there are people who get infected before 18 and those for who the cure doesn't work. Given the whole outline of the world it's not hard to see where this book is going.
I mentioned in a recent review that I have some trouble with the current batch of YA dystopian novels. I gave this one a go because I liked the author. My problem now is I'm not sure if I have issues with this because of the book or the person who narrated it. When I think about the story I can't complain about it too much. Yes there was a little too much teenage angst, but it's a novel aimed at teenagers specifically about love - I can't be surprised by the angst! The world created is believable, the characters genuine. The narrators voice though was grating. Narrated by Sarah Drew, I just found her voice annoying. The best I can come up with is was it wasn't old enough, and not even that is right. Her voice for the female teenage characters was fine, but for any male or grown up character it just didn't work for me.
Any way, I'm going to read the second one rather than listen to it and see if that's the issue. I hope so, I really do want to like it.
From Goodreads: 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.
Thoughts: I was looking for a new audio and I remembered this one from Shelia's blog, so I took a chance, signed up at audible.com and downloaded it. Glad I did.
Panic is about so much more than the game. Each player has their reasons for entering - for some it's the glory, for some it's the money, for some it's their only ticket out of town.The town is small, dying and almost everyone wants to get out. There is a hint of desperation to the town and it's younger inhabitants - escape now or end up stuck here forever.
As well as Dodge and Heather, there is Natalie, Heather's best friend and Dodge's crush and Bishop, another close friend of Heather's. As supporting characters, Nat and Bishop are incredibly well formed. They are three dimensional and have their own little stories going on. I picked Bishop's secret fairly early on, but it in no way detracted from the story for me.
The adult characters were mostly in the background (as they often are in YA books), but were a lot more fleshed out that a lot of adults in YA fiction.
As the game progresses, the stakes become higher and the challenges more dangerous. Oliver cleverly reflects the tension in the disintegrating relationships of the characters. Like the games highs and lows of completing a challenge and then having to wait nervously for the next note, the relationships in the book between friends and family ebb and flow as the tension builds and releases. Panic is not just about the game, it's about testing friendships, loyalty, value and courage in all part of your life. You could read it just for the game, but you would be missing out on so much more.
Most probably one of the most appealing aspects of Panic is the fact it's a stand alone YA book written by an author who has a proven track record with a series (Oliver also wrote the popular Delirium series). I haven't read the series (but am more likely to now) but it seems to me that these days it's rare for a series author to also write stand alone stories. It also appears that Delirium is more of a dystopian where I would class Panic as a contemporary novel - again nice to see an author able to write in more than one genre.
If I had one criticism of Panic it is how the rest of the town seems fairly oblivious or indifferent to a game which places the contestants in constant and real danger. The collection of the pot is also hard to swallow. (all students in the high school pay $1 every school day into the pot - no exceptions, collection will be made.) To Oliver's credit though, she spends very little time on this, preferring instead to immerse you in the competition so you really don't care too much about the discrepancies.
In short, Panic is the best YA (not including the CBC short list) I've read since the Hunger Games. (and while we're on the Hunger Games, I have heard comparisons between it and Panic. I don't understand why. Apart from the game aspect, completely different!)
