(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 where its teenage inhabitants dream of escaping. It is from the depths of this desperation that the game of Panic was invented. Every summer, high school seniors, recently graduated, compete in a series of challenges—some dangerous but all secret—to win a “pot” of money that’s been collected over the year from every single student at the high school. The last person left in the game wins and can use the money to do whatever they want—go to college, buy a car, or simply use the cash to escape in other ways.
Heather Nill, hadn’t planned on competing in Panic; she comes to the opening “jump,” where candidates declare their intention to take part in the games by jumping off a rock ledge into a quarry, to support her friend Natalie Velez. However, her high school boyfriend has just dumped her and Heather suddenly feels trapped by the town, by her life in the trailer park with her mother who drinks too much, and by her concerns over her little sister, Lily. Her decision to jump and to take part in the games is the first step in changing her future but it is not without consequences. Her friend, Nat, feels betrayed and her friend, Bishop, tries to dissuade her.
Heather isn’t the only surprise entry. Dodge, who was pretty much a loner in high school, also jumps and his reasons for getting involved are complex. Not only does he want out of Carp, but he also wants to avenge his sister, who competed in the games two years before and ended up in a wheelchair.
The novel unfolds over the course of the summer as trials are faced and friendships are tested. The overall message of the book is one I appreciate. However, I just felt like something was missing; I never fully felt the desperation of the characters or the town and I’m not sure why. Maybe to tell a story that truly reflects modern day, you have to set it in the future or the past. I don’t know. The ending felt way too pat for me. Maybe it’s because I just finished Eleanor & Park and that novel gets the “trapped” feeling so right, that this novel just felt like it was going through the motions.
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