This book was excellent in terms of drawing the reader in, and providing just the right amount of excitement to keep the reader going. Jaron/Sage is pretty awesome for a urchin/pirate/King. His character is pretty near perfect when it comes to how he justifies his actions. I loved reading about him, Erick and Fink,  and although Jaron seems to be a master manipulator/thief etc. he still shows us his fears and vulnerabilities, and he still has weaknesses. The romance, if you want to call it that, is almost non-existent. While he obviously cares for Imogene, the romance is really his fight to protect her. I can't recall even a single kiss. Obviously this juvenile fiction was written for a younger audience, but given the amount of fighting and violence and injuries sustained, a little more romance would be nice. I'm excited to start on book 3 soon to see how these relationships progress or change.

This was an excellent book, and I am looking forward to the rest of the series. Very engaging with mystery, intrigue, action and adventure. This book would appeal to boys.

This fast-paced teen read by Oliver had an interesting premise. The game "panic" was a game played by graduating seniors in hopes of winning the grand prize, a huge sum of money that could be life-changing for the winner. Panic is a game made up of a series of challenges, many of which test the participants bravery, or some might say, stupidity. From diving off dangerous cliffs into water below to playing chicken with cars while blindfolded, each participant is given (sometimes) life threatening dares to face and whoever chickens out, is out of the game, and whoever is the slowest to complete the challenge is left behind. 

It felt like the author was walking a fine line between wanting to be more cruel and graphic with the challenges and results and yet still keeping the story fit for teens. There were a couple of times I could see it heading into darker territory only to have it reeled back in. 

After the build-up of the game, the characters and the overall story, I felt the ending was a bit of a let down and, honestly, it's been a book or two since I read it, I can't even really remember the ending, so it wasn't too memorable. As entertaining as the rest of the book was, I feel like I should remember how it ended. 

I am interested in reading her other series, DELIRIUM, to see how it compares.