"Panic" by Lauren Oliver -- An Entertaining Y/A Read (Updated 4/4/14)

Panic by Lauren Oliver is good right from the start and keeps getting better as it progresses!  It’s about a tradition in a small town where any senior who wants to participate in the Panic challenge at the end of the school year pays $1 a day into the pot.  After graduation, the winner and two judges who made up the challenges split the pot.  The pot was $67,000 that Heather, Nat and Dodge were competing for.  Each of the main characters had a different motivation for participating.  Most all of the class participated, which I found unbelievable considering the challenges were illegal or life threatening.  (No way would I have participated, but it made for a good read though!  The ending was great!  

I loved the suspense each challenge created and it was fun trying to guess the winner.  I’d recommend this if you are looking for an entertaining YA read.  

(Karen's review, 4 stars)

Panic by Lauren Oliver is a Y/A novel that happens in a small town.  Every year after the school year ends, the graduating seniors who want to play a game called "Panic."  The winner gets a lot of money.  The book focuses on Heather and Dodge who each have their own reason for wanting to win.  The people in the story are very true to life. 

I loved this book because I got into it really fast and it was hard to put down.  
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)
 
Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The Weight of Blood" by Laura McHugh

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh is about a young girl who is determined to find out what happened to her mom and to her best friend who both went missing at different parts of her life.  I enjoyed this book from start to finish.  There were not a lot of "wow" moments but it kept me turning pages nonetheless.  I especially liked the ending!  This is a very good novel by a first-time author so give it a chance.
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

3 Tuesday Teasers

Gerard's:

I'm the platoon medic.  But most of all, I'm an American.  And when the bells sounds, I will come out fighting for my country and for my teammates.

From page 7 of Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell.

Then he saw Cheri's head, snagged on a piece of driftwood:  her freckled face, abbreviated nose, eyes spaced too wide to be pretty.  Stuffed into the hollow of the tree were the rest of Cheri's pieces, her skin etched with burns and amateur tattoos.

 
From page 4 of The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh.  (My review will be up tomorrow.)


Karen's: 

But she trusted him, right?  So, why did her finger hover over the enter key, hesitating?

Because another girl had disappeared and her dad was worried she might be next.

From Loc. 740 (Ch. 6) of Too Close to Home by Lynette Eason.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page (well, we cheat and choose specific ones)
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Happy Reading!

"Lone Survivor" by Marcus Luttrell

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell tells the true story of four Navy Seals who fought a battle in Afghanistan against the Taliban by the lone survivor himself!  To me, this book breaks down into three parts:  (1) what you have to do to become an elite seal--and it's really a lot as you could imagine; (2) the battle which is told so well you can visualize it; and (3) after the battle and finally his rescue.  It is a fantastic story that is also a movie!  I enjoyed it very much, well worth the time!  Mr. Luttrell, thank you for your service!

(Gerard's review, 5++ Stars)

 Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The Deepest Secret" by Carla Buckley

The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley has two main story lines: a hit-and-run accident and a young boy who cannot be exposed to light of any sort. Because there is even more to this book than that, including lots of "wow" moments and believable characters, I loved this book and consider it a "must read." It is my book of the month so far for March! They don't get much better than this!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley is about Eve, a hit-n-run driver who accidentally killed her best friend’s daughter.  She finds herself in a real dilemma because she has a teenage son, Tyler, with a very rare disease who needs special care.  Her husband is a lawyer who works out-of-town a lot and only comes home on weekends.  She also has a lying teenage daughter, Melissa who has secrets of her own.  This book poses a lot of questions along the way.  Tyler is like a prisoner in his own house because UV rays can be deadly for him.  He is only allowed out after sundown but manages to know more about their neighbors and what goes on in the neighborhood than anyone else in his family.  Each person in the family has a secret. 

 

This was a fast-moving book for me because it kept me wondering if Eve is ever going to confess.  My feelings about Eve and her husband changed as the book progressed, but I liked Tyler all the way through; Melissa not so much.  This is a good thought-provoking read that kept me turning the pages and would be great for a book club discussion. 
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Similar to Touch and Go by Lisa Gardner and Defending Jacob by  William Landay.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!