REVIEW: PANIC BY LAUREN OLIVER.

Title: Panic
Author: Lauren Oliver
Edition: Paperback
Published: March 4, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 416
Source: ARC provided by the Publisher
Category: Romance, Contemporary
Trailer: Not applicable.

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Synopsis:

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 have mentioned it several times in the past that Delirium is one of the books that pushed me back to reading and started my love for Dystopian novels. I loved it to the moon and back. I was also totally floored by its sequel Pandemonium like Oliver knows perfectly how to make her readers ask for more. However, this series didn't end the way I expected it to. Disappointment rushed to me like a mother longing for her child after reading Requiem. It was devastating for me. So hearing that Oliver has written a new novel made me a little iffy about it.

When I read Panic's synopsis and saw its cover, the anticipation was high. I believed it would redeem my confidence in her writing. Basically, I was really hoping I would love it like how much I loved Delirium only to be disappointed again. It was totally different from Delirium yes, but it didn't make sense to me at all.

The story revolves around Heather and Dodge's point of views and it is about the dangerous game, Panic. They would win a certain amount of money by doing crazy and dangerous challenges and they don't have rules, they don't even know who are the judges. Because Heather and Dodge's needed huge money to start a different life other than being poor, they joined and persisted to win even if it includes cheating. And in between the game, there goes the complicated life struggles and heart issues.

Panic didn't make sense to me. What kind of game it is?? Why would you risk your life for something as ridiculous as this?? It wasn't even THAT of a dystopian setting. They were just poor. And why name it Panic when you can name it something else. I didn't see how it fits the story because the game isn't even worth panicking for. It makes you terrified. Plus, how would the players know they weren't being cheated on?? Is this some kind of a Hunger Games remake?? Too vague for my taste and senseless to be honest.

Aside from having under developed world building and plot, Panic resonates SO MUCH bitterness. I don't understand how the characters pour out emotion this negative. There's just too much regret and hate and unnecessary pain that the story would jump from one subplot to another. It was just all over the place. The characters were so immature that they tend to cling to hate and become selfish. These characters whine about almost everything and push revenge as lightly as a pancake. Jesus. My head hurts.

Heather?? She's just phenomenally stupid. Hands down stupid. She's emotionally unstable, selfish, jealous, insecure, unworthy of trust and ridiculously stupid. She joined the game because her boyfriend dumped her then as the story goes, she realizes she's in love with her best friend. Then when her best friend tells her he loves her, she pushes him away. Like what the hell is wrong with her?? She is definitely one of the protagonists I hate. I totally hate. And Dodge?? Another ridiculous character. He joined the game to get even with the guys responsible for his sister's accident. Like IT WAS A FREAKING ACCIDENT. ACCIDENT. I understand that he loves his sister so much that he would do whatever it takes to make life easy for her but why would he even get jealous when she's being happy with a suitor? OMG. Unbelievable, right?? Just unbelievable.

Panic has a lot of potential to be a good novel. Oliver's writing style has always been amazing but I believe Panic was just totally underdeveloped. The plot and world building's uniqueness emerge on every page but the sensibility FOR ME of the entire story is lacking. It is a little difficult to immediately breathe after being drowned with so much negativity and I wish that I was pulled out a bit sooner. I don't hate this book. I just didn't connect with it. I got completely lost and wouldn't want to be lost in it again.

Thank you ever so much Sarah and Megan of HarperCollins for the ARC!!

"She didn't think. She just leaned in and closed her eyes and kissed him.

It was like taking a bite of ice cream that's been sitting out just long enough: sweet, easy, perfect.... [She] felt little bursts of happiness in her chest, as though someone had set off sparklers there.

Then, abruptly, he pulled away. "Wait."

And instantly, the sparklers in her chest were extinguished, leaving only a smoking black place. Just one word and she knew: SHE'D MADE A MISTAKE."

"[She] felt like she could cry. His clown-hair; his faded Rangers T-shirt and sweatpants spotted with paint; his smell. She had thought it was hers -- she'd thought he was hers -- but all this time he'd been growing up and hooking up and having secret crushes and BECOMING SOMEONE SHE DIDN'T KNOW."

"..when you love someone, when you care for someone, you have to do it through the good and the bad. Not just when you're happy and it's easy.."

REVIEW: REQUIEM BY LAUREN OLIVER.

Title: Requiem (Delirium #3)
Author: Lauren Oliver
Edition: Paperback (ARC)
Published: March 5, 2013
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 391
Source: Borrowed from Michelle Shouts Random
Category: Dystopia, Romance
Trailer: Not applicable.

Synopsis:

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

*SPOILERS ALERT*

I was lucky enough to have friends who received ARCs of Requiem. Delirium is one of the first series that pushed me back to reading and one of my favorites that's why my eagerness to read Requiem, being the final book, is just too strong. Thank you so much to Michelle over at Michelle Shouts Random for lending me her copy!

The final book deals with so much issues. Lena is finally an active member of The Resistance thus she's expected to work and look after the others. Hana has been cured and would have to deal with being the second wife of a soon-to-be-mayor. Julian as always, head over heels in love with Lena yet here comes Alex, her first. And Alex, not sure how to handle Lena, decides to ignore her.

Straight to the point feelings: I am disappointed with the last book. I never thought I would get bored with it and it pains me to think that it didn't hit the right expectation meter. Raving about Delirium and Pandemonium, I've always expected that the last book would even be better but unfortunately, I was left hanging. I felt like there's a book four coming up because of the unforeseen major cliffhanger ending. After being sad about how the story flowed, I had too many questions by the end of it. What will happen to Julian, to the Resistance, did they win, where will Hana go etcetera, etcetera. Why does it feel like nothing has been addressed here, like none has been really answered.

Lena in this novel is just too much. She basically highlighted how of a user she was. I pity Julian because I felt like Lena just grabbed the opportunity to forget Alex by playing with him and it is just so unfair. He deserves better. And how annoying Alex have been for easily forgiving Lena. He almost died just to let her escape and it took her how many months to get over him. I don't know. This isn't the way I really expected it to be but I have to live with it. One thing I liked most is Hana's point of view.

I think I would go ahead and re-read Requiem. I myself couldn't accept that this is just how my favorite series ended. I know there is more to it than this. There should be more. There could have been more.

VERDICT:

“And you can't love, not fully, unless you are loved in return.”

REVIEW: PANDEMONIUM BY LAUREN OLIVER.

Title: Pandemonium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Series: Delirium #2
Edition: Paperback
Publication: February 28, 2012 by HarperTeen
Source: Gifted
Pages: 375
Genre: Dystopia, Romance

Synopsis:

I’m pushing aside
the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana
and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

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Finally!! After 3 weeks of not being able to even TOUCH a book, here I am, making a REVIEW! Thank God for rest days! HAHAHA! I didn't do anything productive at all today because I promised that I would spend it with one of my babies! I finished Pandemonium today, I even skipped jogging for this!

Now onto the review. I am quite satisfied with this book. Lauren Oliver focused here on the resistance's ability to sustain those in the Wilds and how LOSS made the characters strong enough to fight for freedom. Lena's character evolved into a fighter and though she's faced tough times and a lot of life and death situations, SHE DID NOT FORGET WHO SHE REALLY WANTED TO BE. The book also involves a lot of action with just enough drama to make it exciting! The twists and turns of the story is just phenomenal that I really couldn't put it down! Unpredictable yet awesome plot line and honestly, after Harry Potter, I have never been so thrilled when it comes to endings! The timing is just so right that I stomped my foot and exclaimed CLIFFHANGERRRR ♥

"Sometimes I feel like if you just watch things, just sit still and let the world exist in front of you - sometimes I swear that just for a second time freezes and the world pauses in its tilt. Just for a second. And if you somehow found a way to live in that second, then you would live forever."

REVIEW: DELIRIUM BY LAUREN OLIVER.

Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Series: Delirium #1
Edition: Paperback
Publication: February 3, 2011 by HarperTeen
Source: Bought
Pages: 441
Genre: Dystopia, Romance

Synopsis:

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.

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It took me almost two weeks to finish this not because it is not good or boring; it was just because I have been way too busy. Okay. Another dystopian setting where Amor Deliria Nervosa or what we all know as LOVE is considered pandemic and can only be cured once your done with the procedure. Its funny because HOW CAN LOVE BE A DISEASE and it was just (for me) one of a kind plot line. I adore Lena and Hana's friendship and how the love story evolved. It was really such a good read!

"I guess that’s just part of loving people: You have to give things up. Sometimes you even have to give them up."

"It's so strange how life works: You want something and you wait and wait and feel like it's taking forever to come. Then it happens and it's over and all you want to do is curl back up in that moment before things changed."

"Hate isn’t the most dangerous thing, he’d said. Indifference is."