I read this book almost a month ago, and am sadly realizing that I can barely remember anything about it. It had ghosts. It had a horrible, dysfunctional family. And it had a big, old house that brought them all together. Did I like it? I honestly can’t remember how I felt about it at all. Here’s what I do remember. Longtime readers might recall that I have a weird obsession with Lauren Oliver. She wrote a gorgeous, brilliant debut (Before I Fall). It made […]
The lesson here? Stay away from books ending in “ium”.
What do you want first? The good news, or the bad news? The bad news is, Panic isn’t as good as Before I Fall. Ever since I read that one, I’ve (probably unfairly) compared all of her other books to its high standards. This one is close, but it just isn’t as powerful. The good news? This book is far and away better than any book that Oliver has written that ends in “ium”. Delirium. Pandemonium. Requiem [sic]. Panic far surpasses those offerings. Panic is […]
A Bit of a Disappointment (or don’t read this right after Eleanor & Park)
(Read 5/26/14) I’m a big fan of Oliver’s other books and her writing, but this novel felt like the least thought out of her work—like an early novel versus the most recent. I’m sure parallels to the Hunger Games will be drawn here though the setting is current (not future) and the stakes not quite as high. The basic plot of the book is this. Carp, New York is a small town in upstate New York, the type of place the economy has hit hard and […]
Before I Fall: Death, Redemption, and Why Popular Kids Suck
We all have those books that we see time and time again. Someone tells us about it, it’s recommended because you bought another book, there’s just something about the book that makes it constantly pop up, yet you never read it. Before I Fall was one of those books for me. A YA, woe-is-me kind of novel. This is the second one I’ve read in as many months that opens with the death of the narrator. I’m still unsure how I feel about that trend as […]