1 to 5 of 5
Review Date: 10/20/2015
I'm still shocked by how much I love this series! Meyer took such a crazy concept and made it incredible with her world building and complex plots. Each character has a time to shine in each book so they all grow on you. They're all complex enough that they don't fall into clichés and Meyer somehow got me to root for every couple she set up. Like others have said, this was the best of the series by far as all the plots start to layer together. it killed me to see Wolf and Scarlett apart, but I loved the growth of Thorne and Cress' relationship. I can't wait to see all that she's set up for Winter!
Review Date: 10/20/2015
Just to get this clear straight off the bat, this is NOT a dystopian novel. Panic is much more akin to Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall than Delirium in that it is set in a realistic high school in upstate New York.
Panic is a game played by the senior class every summer after graduation. It is a high-danger, high stakes series of tasks that leads to the winner getting fame and glory in the small town as well as a pot of $67,000, and coming from such a poor town, that's a lot of money for an eighteen year old to start their life.
The first narrator we get is Heather, who comes from a poor family and doesn't have any real goals. She was just dumped by her boyfriend before the start of the book and Matt was her ticket out of town, so now she has nothing but Panic. In the course of the book we see her go from a quiet scared girl to a real contender in the competition.
Heather personally didn't interest me. Yes, we see her grow with panic, but we never actually saw her weak before, we're just told that she was. What's interesting that's involved in Heather's story is her best friend Bishop, with whom she's in love but has constantly been in other relationships. He seems like your pretty average nice guy, but without giving any spoilers, there's a bit more to him. Good twists and turns in his story line if you ask me.
The other narrator is Dodge. He was never friends with Heather in high school, but he's in love with her gorgeous best friend, Nat, and panic draws the three of them together. Dodge's reason for joining panic is much more personal. Two years earlier, his sister was in the last tasks of panic and the other contender rigged her car to crash, resulting in her being paralyzed from the waste down.
We don't know this right off the bat, but as the story unfolds, we learn more and more that Dodge's singular reason for being in panic is to maim or possibly kill the brother of the guy who hurt his sister, who is playing this year. But this gets complicated by his feelings for Nat and his first time having real friends.
Nat, now...though she's not a narrator, she's a main character, and I just couldn't stand her. She's a backstabbing friend to Heather, plus she's terrible at panic. The narration is so dragged down by "Nat failed at this and Heather had to drag her along." As intriguing as Dodge's dark side was, Nat seemed oblivious to it, and even when it comes to light she doesn't seem to care. I don't know if that's an active choice in her character or Oliver just trying to make the story fit together, but I hated their dynamic and the resolution of both their stories.
Speaking of dynamics, the strangest thing about this story to me was the Dodge and Heather as the two narrators had no real relationship. Dodge says a few times that he enjoys Heather's friendship, but it feels stiff, like Oliver's just throwing it in there to make the two work together. Nat and Heather had a relationship and Nat and Dodge had a relationship--even Dodge and Bishop had one--but I never felt a real connection between these two.
Action is definitely this book's strength. The tasks, while not necessarily scary to read, would be terrifying in real life. Everything seriously jeopardize the players' safety and breaks the law. Meanwhile, there's a whole mystery about who the judges are (it's a tradition of panic that no one knows). So when some serious stuff goes down and the police need someone to blame, it becomes a cat and mouse game between the players and the judges about who will get pinned.
3/5 stars because there was an extra oomph missing from this book. Not as thrilling as Delirium and not as introspective as Before I Fall, but worth a read for Lauren Oliver fans.
Panic is a game played by the senior class every summer after graduation. It is a high-danger, high stakes series of tasks that leads to the winner getting fame and glory in the small town as well as a pot of $67,000, and coming from such a poor town, that's a lot of money for an eighteen year old to start their life.
The first narrator we get is Heather, who comes from a poor family and doesn't have any real goals. She was just dumped by her boyfriend before the start of the book and Matt was her ticket out of town, so now she has nothing but Panic. In the course of the book we see her go from a quiet scared girl to a real contender in the competition.
Heather personally didn't interest me. Yes, we see her grow with panic, but we never actually saw her weak before, we're just told that she was. What's interesting that's involved in Heather's story is her best friend Bishop, with whom she's in love but has constantly been in other relationships. He seems like your pretty average nice guy, but without giving any spoilers, there's a bit more to him. Good twists and turns in his story line if you ask me.
The other narrator is Dodge. He was never friends with Heather in high school, but he's in love with her gorgeous best friend, Nat, and panic draws the three of them together. Dodge's reason for joining panic is much more personal. Two years earlier, his sister was in the last tasks of panic and the other contender rigged her car to crash, resulting in her being paralyzed from the waste down.
We don't know this right off the bat, but as the story unfolds, we learn more and more that Dodge's singular reason for being in panic is to maim or possibly kill the brother of the guy who hurt his sister, who is playing this year. But this gets complicated by his feelings for Nat and his first time having real friends.
Nat, now...though she's not a narrator, she's a main character, and I just couldn't stand her. She's a backstabbing friend to Heather, plus she's terrible at panic. The narration is so dragged down by "Nat failed at this and Heather had to drag her along." As intriguing as Dodge's dark side was, Nat seemed oblivious to it, and even when it comes to light she doesn't seem to care. I don't know if that's an active choice in her character or Oliver just trying to make the story fit together, but I hated their dynamic and the resolution of both their stories.
Speaking of dynamics, the strangest thing about this story to me was the Dodge and Heather as the two narrators had no real relationship. Dodge says a few times that he enjoys Heather's friendship, but it feels stiff, like Oliver's just throwing it in there to make the two work together. Nat and Heather had a relationship and Nat and Dodge had a relationship--even Dodge and Bishop had one--but I never felt a real connection between these two.
Action is definitely this book's strength. The tasks, while not necessarily scary to read, would be terrifying in real life. Everything seriously jeopardize the players' safety and breaks the law. Meanwhile, there's a whole mystery about who the judges are (it's a tradition of panic that no one knows). So when some serious stuff goes down and the police need someone to blame, it becomes a cat and mouse game between the players and the judges about who will get pinned.
3/5 stars because there was an extra oomph missing from this book. Not as thrilling as Delirium and not as introspective as Before I Fall, but worth a read for Lauren Oliver fans.
Review Date: 10/20/2015
Aside from the acclaim, I picked this one up because Victoria Aveyard is a local author for me, so chalk one up for hometown pride!
I was taken by surprise by how much I loved this book! The premise seemed very typical: a poor girl who lives by thieving wants nothing more than to protect her best friend Kilorn (Gale?) and sister Gisa (Prim?) from the upper class Silver government. Just when she's at the end of her line--Gisa can no longer work and Killian is drafted for the war--she is whisked away to work in the castle, and from there she stumbles into a royal deception: that she's a princess.
Pretty typical, right? But Aveyard crafted a really intricate world with exciting characters and somehow managed to sidestep most cliches that she pulled up.
To fall back on the Hunger Games comparison, Mare's saving grace as a main character is a lot like Katniss: she doesn't want any of the things that are happening to her. The life of a princess doesn't really phase her the way you' expect--she's not all giddy about the princess life. She's more concerned about the life and family she's lost than the glitter of palace life
Speaking of the princes, they were written well, too. Cal seems like he was going to be the all perfect love interest, but there is a balance between him being a genuinely good person and being the crowned prince of an oppressive ruling class. Major props to Aveyard for not taking the easy way out, because while Cal understands the struggle of the Reds, he understands that he as a future ruler can't go all out in resisting the current system which obviously creates some tension for potential love story.
Maven, Maven, Maven. I won't dwell too much on him except to say plot arc well handled. He's a really multi-dimensional character, and while I saw a lot of his story coming, it still created suspense and moved the plot along without *making* the plot happen, if you know what I mean.
I liked the Red Guard, but I wasn't as wowed as I could have been. Politically, they were great. Activists with a very specific goal and a code of morality relating to how they go about it. Just as far as characters, they felt very dropped in. Considering the role they played, the people themselves fell flat. Maybe they're more so setups for the next book?
Added bonus: These were some badass names without being tacky!
Obviously with my four star rating I cannot WAIT for the next book. With the way things left off, I honestly have no idea what's coming next and it's going to kill me to wait until 2016 to find out!
I was taken by surprise by how much I loved this book! The premise seemed very typical: a poor girl who lives by thieving wants nothing more than to protect her best friend Kilorn (Gale?) and sister Gisa (Prim?) from the upper class Silver government. Just when she's at the end of her line--Gisa can no longer work and Killian is drafted for the war--she is whisked away to work in the castle, and from there she stumbles into a royal deception: that she's a princess.
Pretty typical, right? But Aveyard crafted a really intricate world with exciting characters and somehow managed to sidestep most cliches that she pulled up.
To fall back on the Hunger Games comparison, Mare's saving grace as a main character is a lot like Katniss: she doesn't want any of the things that are happening to her. The life of a princess doesn't really phase her the way you' expect--she's not all giddy about the princess life. She's more concerned about the life and family she's lost than the glitter of palace life
Speaking of the princes, they were written well, too. Cal seems like he was going to be the all perfect love interest, but there is a balance between him being a genuinely good person and being the crowned prince of an oppressive ruling class. Major props to Aveyard for not taking the easy way out, because while Cal understands the struggle of the Reds, he understands that he as a future ruler can't go all out in resisting the current system which obviously creates some tension for potential love story.
Maven, Maven, Maven. I won't dwell too much on him except to say plot arc well handled. He's a really multi-dimensional character, and while I saw a lot of his story coming, it still created suspense and moved the plot along without *making* the plot happen, if you know what I mean.
I liked the Red Guard, but I wasn't as wowed as I could have been. Politically, they were great. Activists with a very specific goal and a code of morality relating to how they go about it. Just as far as characters, they felt very dropped in. Considering the role they played, the people themselves fell flat. Maybe they're more so setups for the next book?
Added bonus: These were some badass names without being tacky!
Obviously with my four star rating I cannot WAIT for the next book. With the way things left off, I honestly have no idea what's coming next and it's going to kill me to wait until 2016 to find out!
Review Date: 10/20/2015
What a cool concept! The Shamer's Daughter follows eleven-year-old Dina, who is the daughter of something called a Shamer. Shamers' powers, which are inherited genetically, allow the Shamer to look anyone in the eye and force them to relive all of their shameful memories and confess their bad deeds.
The Shamer's gift is rare and the few around, like Dina's mother, are called on to settle legal disputes. This turns south when she is called to prove a man guilty in the matter of a royal murder - and the royal family doesn't like when she turns the blame on them.
When I picked up The Shamer's Daughter at the library, I didn't know it was targeted at such a young audience. Since the main character is 11, I'm assuming that the target audience is probably 8-12. I can understand a lot of the two-star reviews I'm seeing from fellow adults like myself, but I can see my younger self loving this book.
It's one of those YA books that straddles the lines of the genre. There is legitimate danger, graphic descriptions, foul language, and all those edgy things that tweens love to feel mature in reading.
However, the reason it wasn't too interesting to me as an adult was how simple characters and relationships were. Everyone Dina met was either a friend or a foe, and once someone was a friend, they were automatically a part of the "hero team" and a main character, no questions asked.
Had to give it a three-star since I'm sure younger kids would love it, though it wasn't my cup of tea. I'd suggest passing it on to an advanced young reader who loves fantasy.
The Shamer's gift is rare and the few around, like Dina's mother, are called on to settle legal disputes. This turns south when she is called to prove a man guilty in the matter of a royal murder - and the royal family doesn't like when she turns the blame on them.
When I picked up The Shamer's Daughter at the library, I didn't know it was targeted at such a young audience. Since the main character is 11, I'm assuming that the target audience is probably 8-12. I can understand a lot of the two-star reviews I'm seeing from fellow adults like myself, but I can see my younger self loving this book.
It's one of those YA books that straddles the lines of the genre. There is legitimate danger, graphic descriptions, foul language, and all those edgy things that tweens love to feel mature in reading.
However, the reason it wasn't too interesting to me as an adult was how simple characters and relationships were. Everyone Dina met was either a friend or a foe, and once someone was a friend, they were automatically a part of the "hero team" and a main character, no questions asked.
Had to give it a three-star since I'm sure younger kids would love it, though it wasn't my cup of tea. I'd suggest passing it on to an advanced young reader who loves fantasy.
Review Date: 10/20/2015
I'm torn between liking and loving this book, but for good measure, it's getting a 4/5.
Margueritte is the daughter of brilliant inventors who have invented a way to jump between parallel universes, along with their lab assistants, Theo and Paul. But as soon as they make their big breakthrough, their one perfect Firebird disappears, along with Paul, and Margueritte's father drives off a bridge in a rigged car accident. Headstrong and heartbroken, Margueritte and Theo chase after Paul in search for answers in a multi-dimensional sci-fi romance.
Well, that's what it is, a sci-fi AND a romance. It's almost like there are two books co-existing in one. At first, the romance seemed to heavy. 17-year-old Margueritte lives in a house with grad students Paul and Theo and just can't choose *eyeroll* between her two hot housemates. Both have fairly interesting personalities for romantic lead men, but it's Margueritte who falls flat romance-wise. She jumps between being a confident and unique girl (see sci-fi plot) and wetting her loins every time a boy appears.
The love triangle, needless to say, is quite boring. But the real love triangle arises within the sci-fi story line.
The way that Firebird works is that only consciousness is transferred between dimensions. In every world, slightly different events have taken place, which result in slightly different versions of every human being. By jumping between the dimensions, Margueritte, Paul, and Theo are actually hijacking other versions of themselves and temporarily living in their lives.
The sci-fi, granted, is some pretty thinly veiled science, and a lot of details get swept under the rug to keep the plot going. But aside from some faults like oddly placed hot-and-steamy sexy times and some obvious plot twists, there is a great concept to this book and a lot of twists I totally wasn't expecting.
The beginning is hard to get through, but if you give it a chance, I promise you won't be sorry!
Margueritte is the daughter of brilliant inventors who have invented a way to jump between parallel universes, along with their lab assistants, Theo and Paul. But as soon as they make their big breakthrough, their one perfect Firebird disappears, along with Paul, and Margueritte's father drives off a bridge in a rigged car accident. Headstrong and heartbroken, Margueritte and Theo chase after Paul in search for answers in a multi-dimensional sci-fi romance.
Well, that's what it is, a sci-fi AND a romance. It's almost like there are two books co-existing in one. At first, the romance seemed to heavy. 17-year-old Margueritte lives in a house with grad students Paul and Theo and just can't choose *eyeroll* between her two hot housemates. Both have fairly interesting personalities for romantic lead men, but it's Margueritte who falls flat romance-wise. She jumps between being a confident and unique girl (see sci-fi plot) and wetting her loins every time a boy appears.
The love triangle, needless to say, is quite boring. But the real love triangle arises within the sci-fi story line.
The way that Firebird works is that only consciousness is transferred between dimensions. In every world, slightly different events have taken place, which result in slightly different versions of every human being. By jumping between the dimensions, Margueritte, Paul, and Theo are actually hijacking other versions of themselves and temporarily living in their lives.
The sci-fi, granted, is some pretty thinly veiled science, and a lot of details get swept under the rug to keep the plot going. But aside from some faults like oddly placed hot-and-steamy sexy times and some obvious plot twists, there is a great concept to this book and a lot of twists I totally wasn't expecting.
The beginning is hard to get through, but if you give it a chance, I promise you won't be sorry!
1 to 5 of 5
