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Brittany and I are starting this one today. Feel free to join in!

Yay! Can't wait to dig in!

I'm on pg. 58 right now. Trying not to get too far ahead! (view spoiler)[ I feel pretty bad for Heather so far. I'm thinking it's a bad idea to let her pride stop her from quitting Panic, though. And her feeling like she could jump is concerning... (hide spoiler)]

Well, I just got home! So I can finally start! Lol.

Yay!! I'm reading two books at once now so I don't get too far ahead of you - I'm sick so I'm planning to spend the whole day reading :)

I'm on page 72 right now, so I'm slowly making my way through, lol. Where would you want to stop today?

I felt pretty bad for Heather at the beginning of it, too. I'm a little confused, though. Didn't it say that Panic participants have to pay a ton of money to compete throughout the school year? Yet, it kinda seemed like Heather decided to compete in the fly - did I miss something?

I'm also having a hard time believing Panic survived so many years. Cops aren't stupid, they'd figure it out eventually and put a stop to it. But other than that, I'm really liking it so far.

Also, what do you think (view spoiler)[is wrong with Dodge's sister Dayna? Just paralyzed or something, I guess? (hide spoiler)]

It said everyone had to pay - not just the kids planning to participate. But it also said $1 a day and I don't know what high school kids have that kind of money. Wouldn't parents get suspicious if they constantly need it? I mean, most kids that age don't have jobs. And it kind of seems like Heather has close to nothing money-wise, so no clue how she could afford it.

I thought the same as you about the cops. And I mean, if it went on long enough in a small town, parents would know too - and hopefully keep the kids out of it. I'm not sure how long this was supposed to have taken place for, though.

I'm actually pretty sure (view spoiler)[ that she's the one he mentioned who would never be able to walk again. Because he mentions that and then talks about playing the game for revenge. Not sure if that's what he meant or not, though. Just a guess. (hide spoiler)]

Also I just realized my pages are off from what Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ says. (It's an ebook so probably the font size.)

I'm on "Sunday, June 26" at the beginning now. I'm thinking maybe to "Saturday, July 2" (about pg. 100 for me) or maybe a little further? It's difficult since this one doesn't have ordinary chapters.

So, every kid has to pay something... Simply because they go to that high school? That's so weird. And you're right, from the way it talks about her living conditions - and Dodge's, too - I don't know where they'd come up with that sort of money.

Hmm, that might be right. I guess we'll just have to see.

You're pages are only about 10 pages behind the print copy, so at least it's not too much of a difference, lol. It'll put me at 110, so I'm just fine with that. I need to pick up Alienated tonight at some point and having a place to stop will help motivate me, haha!

Okay good! I thought it was more of a difference.

And good luck! I finished a review copy today because I told myself to wait and see how far you went on this one before continuing. Definitely a good motivation :)

Finished up the reading for today! I guess I'll move on to Alienated - even though the third Harry Dresden is calling my name. >.>;

I'm hoping to convince myself to read before I sleep. Got a bit distracted online!

Haha! That always happens. I typically end up on agouti be watching Happy Wheels or cat videos. XD But you don't have much farther to go!

I work tomorrow, but I think I'll still have some reading time, as I don't go in until 3. I'll try not to get behind!

I'm about to choose between reading and Youtube right now and I'm betting reading won't win... LOL

And alright :) I'm not sure what's happening for me tomorrow yet, but I'll probably be able to make time anyway.

Trying to catch up on yesterday's reading! (view spoiler)[ I wonder what Nat is up to... Heather just made the same deal with her about splitting the money... Either she doesn't plan to keep any or just wants a share no matter who wins. This way she'd have three ways of winning. (hide spoiler)]

Just finished Dodge's part for July 4th. (view spoiler)[ Is he seriously planning on killing this guy's brother?? Crazy, but I can't say I blame him if he actually did purposefully hurt Dayna.

Also I really hate how there are these tiny fights or miscommunications and they get completely forgotten about. First with Bishop disappearing not answering his texts, then with Dodge upset thinking Heather and Nat are using him. They just go on like none of it happened. (hide spoiler)]

I made it to Wednesday, Jul 27th.

I'm kinda irritated with that, too, when it comes to those little inconsistencies. Nat seems like a lit of a double-crosser, too. (view spoiler)[Especially when she kissed Dodge while she was dating some other guy. (hide spoiler)] I definitely sympathize more with Heather.

I also would like to know more about the individual challenges - and how the judges know so much about what each person is so scared off...

Finally caught up! And yeah, I like Heather better. It's so dishonest of her but I'm glad (view spoiler)[ she decided not to split the prize with Nat. Heather has a real use for it and Nat is just selfish. Also, I think Nat just wants the money without having to win. Make Heather and Dodge do everything.

The individual challenges are interesting. Not sure how they're supposed to pass... Don't understand how the other two failed? (hide spoiler)]

July 29th (view spoiler)[ Hmm... Dodge seems to think Bishop is a judge. I really hope he's wrong, but I guess he might be right. What do you think? (hide spoiler)]

I'm at the very beginning of August 7th and at first I was super angry with Bishop (view spoiler)[ since he seemed to be with Vivian the moment things went wrong with Heather, but I think I figured it out. I'm pretty sure Vivian is the second judge. (hide spoiler)]

I'm in the middle of Sunday, August 14 now. How far are you planning to read tonight?

Also (view spoiler)[ I can't believe Heather didn't figure it out about Bishop. He was the one with the gun, so how did she think anyone would get it?

I'm also shocked he started the fire; he seemed smarter than that. I wonder how he expected it to go, because if he didn't mean to set the building on fire, what good would it have done? It couldn't scare anyone unless they could see it, which means it would have to spread/get big like it did. (hide spoiler)]

I haven't read any at all today (thanks a lot, blog. >.>) so I'm still on page 220. How about we stop at August 15th? I don't think I'll be able to get much farther than 100 pages tonight...

But at least I got a couple of blog updates done. That counts as something, right? Lol... ^-^;

Ha ha - that's what I did yesterday! And alright, I'm on the 15th now so I'll stop at the end :)

Alright, finished for today! (view spoiler)[ The tiger!!! I was really hoping for a happy ending for them... maybe the other one will be okay? :( (hide spoiler)]

Haha, yeah, I saw the new look and the new review! I like the new look, but you need at least one kitty pic on there. ;D

I got one review done yesterday, and I still felt bloggy today, so I did Top Ten Authors I'd Like to Meet, lol. Hopefully now that I've got that done, my mind will let me focus on reading for a while.

Katie wrote: "Finally caught up! And yeah, I like Heather better. It's so dishonest of her but I'm glad she decided not to split the prize with Nat. Heather has a real use for it and Nat is just selfish. Also, ..."

I'm still unclear how the guy failed - all I remember is him being dumped into the trunk of a car. But the girl failed by not rescuing herself from the pool while she was handcuffed, even though she had the key. Still, though, I'd be hard to free yourself, even with the key, with your hand behind your back. O.o

Katie wrote: "July 29th [spoilers removed]"

I actually think that would be a good twist. Would explain why he disappeared at the water tower challenge and why he hung Bill Kelly's memorial thing in his car...

Brittany wrote: "Haha, yeah, I saw the new look and the new review! I like the new look, but you need at least one kitty pic on there. ;D

I got one review done yesterday, and I still felt bloggy today, so I did T..."

Thank you! I'm actually planning on a kitten-related rating system :)

And that's really good! I think I have this week's posts scheduled, except Wednesdays - I can't do that one in advance.

I wanted to get ahead on Top Ten Tuesday posts, but they take soooo long.

Brittany wrote: "Katie wrote: "Finally caught up! And yeah, I like Heather better. It's so dishonest of her but I'm glad she decided not to split the prize with Nat. Heather has a real use for it and Nat is just s..."

Oh that makes sense! I didn't think about the key. I thought it was about facing their fears so somehow I didn't put all that together :)

Katie wrote: "Brittany wrote: "Haha, yeah, I saw the new look and the new review! I like the new look, but you need at least one kitty pic on there. ;D

I got one review done yesterday, and I still felt bloggy ..."

Haha! They do take a while. The one I posted today took a good hour to write and assemble. But hey, it's fun. :)

I just finished Nat's birthday scene. I can't decide if I hate her or feel sorry for her. :/

Brittany wrote: "I just finished Nat's birthday scene. I can't decide if I hate her or feel sorry for her. :/"

Ugh, same. I'm so conflicted when it comes to Nat. Like, she's manipulative and kind of awful. But she seems to know it and feel so guilty...

I'm not quite sure about Dodge either. This idea he can somehow 'fix' his sister along with the revenge thing... I like him, but I'm not sure he's sane.

Yeah, I don't really understand his reasoning behind that, either. I mean, I understand that he wants revenge, but really hurting or killing another person isn't going to help his sister get better...

I completely understand the rage and everything - I've felt similar before. Not to the point of wanting to hurt anyone, but where I wouldn't mind if they were hurt, if that makes sense. Like wishing for it, almost.

But he seems to honestly think this will heal her? He keeps mentioning it now and again, how her legs will change or something . . . first I thought he would use the money to help her, but then I figured out it wasn't. I think he's a tiny bit delusional.

I think we've all been there, but my rage has never sent me to bike to my enemy's house with a knife. >.> I guess that's where Dodge and I are different. Like you, I don't understand why he seems to think winning will heal his sister...

Katie wrote: "I'm at the very beginning of August 7th and at first I was super angry with Bishop [spoilers removed]"

Yeah, I figured that out right around the same time you did.

I'm on August 14th right now and I was a little surprised that (view spoiler)[Heather's solo challenge was so dangerous! If Bishop was so concerned about accidentally killing Little Kelly, why would he endanger his friend like that? I guess he agreed to do it, knowing that Dodge could do his little magic trick and take the bullet out? (hide spoiler)]

Brittany wrote: "I think we've all been there, but my rage has never sent me to bike to my enemy's house with a knife. >.> I guess that's where Dodge and I are different. Like you, I don't understand why he seems t..."

Very true, lol

I wondered the same thing. For being so guilty and concerned, and supposedly 'smart,' Bishop has let me down a bit honestly. (view spoiler)[ I also think it's so strange that he's a judge and his two friends seem to be in most danger here? (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[ Oh my God, Heather is about to die. I'm flipping out. They don't know about the car!!! (hide spoiler)]

I just finished. Wow. I'm feeling weird about the ending, not sure what to think of it. Going to have to let it sink in before I decide.

I know! I was all, "There's no way this is going to end well!" At least she avoided the disaster.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ending, or even the entire book, really. I'm glad that they all lived happily ever after, so to speak. But did they all decide to just overlook the car explosion thing? I mean, if I were Heather or Nat, I'd be pretty pissed - even if Dodge didn't mean for her to be in the car. Better yet, why do they want to hang around someone who so easily decided they wanted to take another's life?

It wasn't even said that they knew Dodge did that with the car. And the whole thing at the end with the tiger and everything was so weird...

It bothers me that they didn't wonder why it happened. We never got to see a resolution between Nat and Dodge, or even Heather and Bishop. Just that everything was okay at the end.

Also, Heather had to have been hurt, and so was the guy Dodge wanted to kill (I forget his name). How did no one hear the explosion, plus they never went to the hospital or anything??

I feel like I would like this so much more if there were actually resolutions to anything in the book. It's all left alone or forgotten about.

I guess you've got a point there, but I think that any sensible person would've been wondering why the car randomly decided to blow up. I can't remember, but didn't the cops so up? You think they would've looked at the wreckage and considered that it was sabotage, too.

Ultimately, I think I feel the same way you do. If there had been some sort of resolution and some character change, other than Heather, I would've felt more satisfied with the ending.

Also, I was a little put off by the ending with Lily, when she decided to jump off the cliff. Heather was so amused by it, but considered everything she went through with Panic, I would've been at least a little concerned about her daredevilish ways. What if her little sister decided to one day participate in Panic? Perhaps that's what Oliver was hinting at, but if I were Heather, I would've have considered the act cute, like she did.

I don't remember cops showing up, but I might remember wrong.

And yeah, no mention of the car again. We don't get to see Dodge feel guilty for that (except barely, when he realizes why Nat took the keys). And we don't see him feel glad, relieved, angry - nothing about what Nat did to stop him. And him and Nat don't make up, they're just together again. Same for Heather and Bishop.

And that part with Lily was disturbing to me, too. I think the whole thing played out wrong. The book promotes Panic in so many ways.

I thought throughout the book actually that there are so many older siblings that don't seem to care for the younger ones. The girl being kidnapped for the challenge, her brother knows it's panic and leaves it alone? Dodge's sister WANTED him to play after she was paralyzed because of it?

Yeah, there are so many loose ends that just don't add up in the whole story. Which is really sad, cause I think it would've definitely been better if Oliver had addressed them. =/

Definitely. It's sad because I remember having the same problem at the end of the Delirium trilogy as well - although the rest was great. I actually hoped for better from this after reading those.

I've already read this book, and it's really good! :)