"Panic" by Lauren Oliver

I really wanted to love this book. I have only heard good things about it, so I was very excited when it came in at the library. I snatched it up right away. However, it just didn't meet my expectations.

Panic is a game played by those that have recently graduated. The tasks are near impossible, but the winner will receive thousands of dollars (payment is required by each senior and the winner takes it all). Heather didn't plan on playing but joins after she is dumped by her boyfriend. Dodge chooses to play because his sister was injured in one of the events when she played panic and he is hoping to seek revenge.

Overall, the concept of this book was great. However, when I read it, I kept bringing myself back to Shelley Hrdlitschka's Gotcha!. Though the premises are different save for the fact that each book is about a game initiated by high school students (and that is not allowed), I just like Hrdlischka's book better. As a whole, I didn't feel much connection to these characters. Honestly, the only time I really felt any connection was when Heather was interacting with her sister. While the Panic event were indeed effective and certainly had me on the edge of my seat, I did find too many parts of them to be predictable.

I think I was spoiled by Before I Fall since it's certainly on my list of best books I have ever read. Other than that book, Oliver's work just hasn't appealed to me very much. This makes my sad since I love the ideas behind the books just something about them keeps me from staying engaged. As I read this I worried that I may be in a reading slump as I began to think of the books I have read recently that I didn't really enjoy. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that there has also been a lot of books that I have genuinely loved. I think I that lately I have picked a few too many books that just weren't for me, but hope that my current pile of books I need to read will be more enjoyable.

As far as this book goes, I realize that I am in the minority with my opinion. Those that like Oliver will probably enjoy this book. Those that like novels with realistic suspense will also probably enjoy it. I still plan to see out books by Lauren Oliver because I have faith that she will have another title that I will love.



Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Pandemonium" by Lauren Oliver

I enjoyed Pandemonium quite a bit more than Delerium. It felt like Oliver had hit her stride with the plot and the characters and the story got started a lot quicker this time around. Lena escaped her old life at the end of Delerium and now faces a new life in the wilds. She is soon adopted by a group of people that also make the wilds her home and begins to learn what it like to live without constant regulation but instead with fear of being caught rebelling. She no longer has Alex so has to make this transition mostly on her own. Soon she will be caught up in the fight against the government as those that are against The Cure try to make a change.

The book alternates between two story lines, both from Lena's perspective, just at different periods of time. I thought this was a very interesting plot device because no matter what trouble Lena was in during the "Then" segments, I knew she had to get out of it because of the "Now" segments. There is more action in this than in the first installment and I spent much of my time reading it on the edge of my seat. Though I did enjoy this book, I am still not the biggest fan of this series. As a whole it is good, but not the strongest set of books I have read. But at the end of the book I was entertained and anxious to read Requiem and that is part of makes it a worthwhile read.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Delerium" by Lauren Oliver

This book was on my TBR list for far too long. While I wouldn't say it's the best dystopian I have read, but it was still a quality book. Lena cannot wait to be 18 and to get "cured." The government cures every adult of amor deliria nervosa, or "the deliria" keeping the population from being infected with love. Lena's mother could not be cured though she had the procedure many times, and Lena is anxious to get the risks of love behind her. As you can guess, Lena is going to meet a boy, find out that her heavily controlled world isn't the safe sanctuary she always believed it to be and is going to fall in love (this seems to be the general plot of most YA dystopians anymore, the difference this time around is that it's love that it forbidden). 

I was really looking forward to reading this book, but, unfortunately, I found the book as a whole a little dry. Once the plot got rolling it was entertaining, but I thought that it took a little too long to get started seeing that it's not at all surprising that Lena is going to end up changing her priority of getting cured. This could possibly have happened to me because I have read enough in this genre that I'm picking up on the patterns they often follow  (plus I might have been a little spoiled by how strong Lauren Oliver's other book, Before I Fell is). However, even though I thought the story was slow to start, the second half of the book was engaging and kept me turning the pages. I certainly plan on finishing this series and am hopeful that now that the plot and characters have been established, there will be plenty of story to make this a solid trilogy. It's no surprise that those that enjoyed The Hunger Games, Matched, Divergent, and so many others also love Delerium. If you like any of the books mentioned, then you will likely enjoy this book as well.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

Top Ten Books We Are Excited To Read in 2012

Topic from The Broke and the Bookish!

Books that I am looking forward to reading in 2012 (Books in Blue are books I have read so far)

1. Amanda Hocking's Trylle Trilogy
I have read the first book, Switched and absolutely loved it!  Looking forward to completing the series as it is being released as a hard copy book this year.

2. Ally Condie's Matched #3
Must.....be....patient....

3. Rachel Hawkins Spell Bound
I should probably re-read Hex Hall and Demonglass before March....

4. Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games (I read this one!)

Yes, I am the only person on the planet that hasn't read these yet.  But I checked them out at the library today!

5.  Lauren Oliver's Delirium and then Pandemonium 
I have started Delirium and love it!

6. Alex Scarrow's TimeRiders series
I have only read the first one, anxious to read more in the series

7. Meg Cabot's The Mediator series
I have checked Book 5, Haunted three times!  I just need to stop checking it out with a ton of other books so I can actually read it all the way through!

8. Meg Cabot's Abandon
I have it on hold at the library.  Just have to be patient

9. Something by Dean Koontz (I read *almost* four.  I'm still in the middle of one as 2012 comes to an end)
I read The Eyes of Darkness last year and enjoyed it.  Since the bf has a ton of Koontz's books, then I should put them to good use.

10.  J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series
Because one cannot go an entire year without reading it!

Happy Reading! 
-Melly

"Before I Fall" by Lauren Oliver

Wow.  I feel like it has been a very long time like I have been so engaged and absorbed in a book.  Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall is very unique (quite a plus!).  Samantha wakes up and has a fairly normal day: she rushes to school with her friends (and Dunkin' Donuts coffee), receives roses from friends and admires as part of the school's Cupid Day, and attends classmate's party (no parents, alcohol, you get the picture).  After the party, Samantha and her friends begin to drive home and thanks to the alcohol and distractions, the girls are involved in a accident.  Samantha is killed.

The next chapter begins with Samantha waking up again, in her own bed.  It is once again Cupid Day, the day of the accident.  Samantha has been given the chance to relive this day over and over again, seeing how her actions affect her life and the lives of her classmates.  Yes, it's a concept that has been told many times, but I enjoyed how Oliver told it.

The book is broken up into seven chapters, one for each day that Samantha goes through.  This was a bit of a challenge for me since I often tell myself that I will read to the end of the chapter and then go do whatever chore I'm putting off, or go to sleep, etc.  This is a little difficult when a 470 page book is divided up into 7 chapters, but I thought that it was an extremely effective way to tell the story.

I am now reading Oliver's Delirium and though I haven't finished it yet, based on what I've read it I highly recommend it!  I have a feeling that I will be reading any book Oliver writes!

Lauren on facebook and twitter!



Happy Reading!
-Melly