Don't Panic! Don't Panic!

She panicked!  If you haven't seen 9 to 5, you must.

This has nothing to do with the book, Panic, the latest book from Lauren Oliver, but it is just something that you should do anyway.  Also, if you were a fan of Before I Fall, you will want to read Panic.  Even if you weren't a fan of Before I Fall, read it anyway.  It is good, good, good.   There was some discussion among folks on goodreads who had just read the description and were wondering if the book was dystopian, like Oliver's Delirium series.  It isn't.  This is realistic fiction for sure.  But it the discussion got me thinking...this real-life story of Heather, in her small, dying town is something that you might WISH was dystopian, but no.  A lot of people live in dying towns like Heather's.  A lot of folks don't feel a sense of hope about the future.  A lot of folk don't have parents can parent, or even want to.  So really, this book was even more grim than a lot of the dystopian fiction I've read lately.
I don't know if games like Panic really exist, but I bet that they do.  A very thought provoking book.  Makes you wonder, would you rather live in the world created in Delirium or in the real-life world of Heather?