High school junior Madelaine, an aspiring actress and musician, has been in the middle of her parents and their divorce for years. Feeling pulled in both directions and not knowing how to navigate their drama, will the stress and anxiety derail Madelaine from achieving her goals? Will anonymous poetry placed in origami and an online friendship help or hurt?

Panic is weighted down by teenage angst and there is not much that is uplifting or hopeful. Madelaine's life is pretty chaotic and the stress of her parents does not help. It is hard to believe that someone who has so much anxiety is able to shut it off and perform. Madelaine has a lot of issues, but I could not connect with her in a meaningful way. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend Panic to other readers.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy of Panic by NetGalley and the publisher. The decision to review this novel was entirely my own.

DNF at 25% unfortunately.
I could not connect with the characters, I'm sure it's a fine book, but after trying to get into it several times, I just couldn't get into the e story.

I...did not like this. I didn't like any of the characters, I hated the decisions they made and their complete inability to communicate like human beings, and the plot twist made me more angry than anything. I kept setting this book down to just sigh and contemplate whether to DNF it over and over. I liked that it had panic disorder representation, but that's my only real pro.

I'm not sure what we're supposed to take away from this book. The plot is unfocused. There are too many elements at play and the theme seems to change from chapter to chapter. The characters are interesting and reasonably complex but not enough to carry the confusing plot.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Panic is a book that almost anyone can to relate to!
The story is about a teen struggling to overcome hear fears. Relatable right?!

The storyline was unique, and easy to follow.
So many teens/kids/adults struggle with mental illness.. it truly shouldn't be a "taboo" subject anymore.

The book itself was just okay for me though. I feel lik eit didn't touch on the topic as well as it could have.

Eh another book I just couldn’t get into I’m not sure why with this one because it sounded right up my alley

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this arc. I will be reviewing this book in the near future with an honest rating and review.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC. I was interested in picking this one up as I am currently struggling with my own mental health. I find it super encouraging to read about other people who struggle with mental health and succeed or just keep it real and struggle in general. Thought this was what I was looking for at the moment and will be reading more from this author in the future!

Panic By Sasha Dawn
Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
2019

When aspiring performer Madelaine finds a poem that helps her finish a song she is writing, she decides to try to find the author in hopes of starting a collaboration.

There was so much going on with this book, its hard to know where to begin.
First of all, I loved the aspiring performer aspect of the book. As someone who grew up performing, going to auditions, and singing my heart out on stage, I truly connected to this part of the story. In addition, I am also someone who suffers from an anxiety condition that went undiagnosed until I was an adult. So that was the second element of the book I really connected with. If he book was simply about these two storylines, I think I would have given it a five star rating.

However, when you throw in the elements of meeting new friends, a budding online romance with a stranger, a custody and child support battle between fighting parents, a single mother struggling financially and then getting diagnosed with cancer, a mystery poet, a very wealthy father with a secret second family, and a stalker the story becomes convoluted and too much is happening all at once to really be able to connect with any of the story elements.

Its hard to say that I didn’t enjoy this book, because I did. I just with the author would have picked a few elements to focus on instead of putting every idea she had into just one novel. Honestly there are enough ideas here for several novels and not a single one of them was flushed out well.

On the positive side, I truly believe that YA readers will really appreciate this book and what it has to say on panic disorder and anxiety (although I wish that was expanded more on). This book reminded me very much of Layla Sales writing style and I think it will end up doing well in the YA market. Im looking forward to reading more from Sasha Dawn.

***Thanks to NetGalley For providing me a complimentary copy of PANIC by Sasha Dawn in exchange for my honest review.***

Teen theater actress Madelaine’s hands are full with her constantly warring divorced parents, auditions, social awkwardness and a secret admirer sending her origami lyrics. Between her mother’s bad choices with men and her manager father’s manipulation of money, it’s no wonder she sometimes panics. But things are looking up with new friends, real theater friends who don’t let competition interfere with cheering each other on, though secrets and lies could ruin every relationship she has.

The Madelaine at rye beginning of PANIC is self-centered and doesn’t recognize her privilege. I loved the relationship she had with her half-sister Hayley, both supportive and grounding. Half in name only the two were as close as any sisters. The Madelaine at the end of the book is a (figurative) rock star.

Sasha Dawn doesn’t know how to write a book that isn’t unputdownable. Although I predicted many of the twists, PANIC isn’t predictable and guessing some surprises only enhanced my enjoyment.

I wouldn’t have titled the story PANIC because anxiety was a small part of Madelaine’s coming of age story and of who she was as a character. PANIC isn’t a mental health story, but one of family and friendship and how we grow when those we love let us down. The theater subplot added to Madelaine’s character and relationships. I’d love to read a sequel to PANIC, except from fremenies Sonia 1 and 2 and one bad dude, I want to know how the next year unfolded because I cared about the characters.

Five star studded stars for PANIC.