Panic

Mass Hysteria #1

by Dawn Brazil

Mass Hysteria is a trilogy of young adult romantic/science-fiction serial novels that tell a continuous story. The books must be read in order, to fully understand the unfolding story.

High school can be hard, especially when your favorite horror movie becomes your reality...

High-School senior, Elizabeth calculates the likelihood of finding love to the probability of starring in a slasher film with her best friend, until she meets Brian Thompson. Love isn’t the only thing that eludes Elizabeth, however. Several threatening notes that promise her demise make a long life also questionable.

When Elizabeth’s best friend shares an article about the death of a girl in Italy, she dismisses it. As more girls are murdered, and cryptic messages are tucked in her locker, she realizes something sinister might be at play. Why? Each of the slain girls look like her.

114 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 29, 2019

About the author

I read words. I write words. I love words. Words have so much power, I understood this at an early age so story-telling has always been a part of my life. After college, I tried my hand at a few different careers - paralegal, customer service, sales. Yeah, I shouldn't have. Now, I'm following my passion and doing what I love. I write Young Adult urban fantasy, science fiction, and romance novels. I live in Texas with my husband and three kids and my endless imagination.

Reviews

[Sarah Fairbairn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, that cover is beautiful!!!

Panic starts off like a contemporary teenage romance thriller mash-up. There’s a hot new boy at school and death threats in the POV, Elizabeth’s, locker.

Chapter 11 is the first time we glimpse something extra, the first time there is a hint we’re in the sci-fi genre. The Sci-fi is a slow burn, but the series has a brilliant concept.

Sadly I just couldn’t connect with the characters that much. But I still intend to read the next book, Frenzy.

[Michelle, The Book Critic · Rating 4 out of 5]

High school senior Elizabeth wants to fit in and be normal. Though she is insecure, she is quite beautiful. This is the reason why guys fall for her. Her smart, popular friend, Stacy, tries to help Elizabeth overcome her shyness. But girls like Melissa, mean, selfish and unaccepting won't allow Elizabeth to be herself. When a handsome boy next door moves in, Elizabeth experiences her first crush. Romance is not usually my go-to genre but this one will do. I loved the characters, the plot, everything the author included. There was a little of a murder mystery in between which made the reader keep flipping the pages. Other than that, it was a pretty decent read. I hope the next books will get better!

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

[Katherine Paschal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elizabeth is not like other girls, instead she is unemotional and disconnected from the world around her- that is until a new boy moved next door and she starts to develop strange feelings for him. To add to the confusion of her new feelings, Elizabeth is getting threatening letters and a girl who looks a lot like her was killed. Life is starting to get very complicated for this girl.

I had a very hard time connecting to Elizabeth and her lack of emotions or reactions, making her seem very cold. She is 17 but seems to not know a whole lot about anything teen related (including a whole chapter of needing her friend to determine her sexual preference), but instead being an expert on horror movies (she referenced them a LOT and half the time I didn't get the reference). I did enjoy getting to know her group of people that she acquired through the book, but I was very disconnected from Elizabeth herself.

This read like a novella, pretty short since I read it in an hour or two one day and with a lot left out, making you need the next book in the series to see what would happen next. The story started a lot of plot lines but nothing happened in this one besides the start of a romance and the ending was very abrupt. I recommend having all three books and reading them back to back to make a complete story.

I voluntarily reviewed a complementary copy of this title.

[Rebecca Veight · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book manages to grab your attention from the very beginning with the first threatening note, as Elizabeth knocks at your heart's door with her social awkwardness and her first real crush. The mystery of the murdered girls that look like her, just adds more spice to an already tasty meal of a story.

The confusion of a first crush is depicted so well. Actually the protagonist's POV is a jumble of emotions and you adopt their intensity. That intensity that keeps you turning the pages, as does the foreboding atmosphere created by weird little events/clues.

Brian is smirk-worthy adorable. Actually all the characters are quite likeable, with dialogue that benefits each character's personality (if sometimes a bit cheesy).

Just as I was really enjoying the story, it just ended! That wasn't a cliffhanger, that was like it finished mid-paragraph! This felt like half a book to me and actually I'm a little disappointed. Going on the next book with hopes it won't happen again.

[anie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Panic is the first book in Mass Hysteria trilogy of serial novels. We follow the story of Elizabeth, who was always different from everyone. She has just one friend, she is socially awkward and seems like she has no feelings. And then comes the boy. :) Brian moves next door and they get closer. The feeling she thought she will never feel creep up. And he might just feel the same.

At the same time she keeps on getting threatening letters, girls that look just like her are murdered and get this terrible pain every now and then. There seems to be more going on than she realizes.

I enjoyed the storyline and liked the idea behind the story, but it was very hard to ... like Elizabeth. It was very hard for me to figure out what her personality even is.

received from Xpresso Book Tours

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review coming soon

[Shayay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is interesting and unique. Not a whole lot happens in this book though; it’s mainly about Liz not being able to have or understand normal emotions. It’s kind of like she has Asperger’s or something like that; she’s supposed to be super smart, but she doesn’t pick up on social cues and doesn’t really have common sense. She’s painfully awkward; Liz tends to not handle things how the majority of people would. Her POV is the only one we get too, so it can get a bit frustrating to be in her head.

Things are about to change in Liz’s world; she’s dealing with a lot of different emotions, which is confusing her. She’s never felt any attraction towards anyone, but when she meets hot new guy, Brian, she’s feeling a connection towards him. There’s also some weird things going on with some murders and threatening notes, but that’s not really fleshed out yet. This book kind of just ends, so you’ll definitely need to read the next books for any completion of this story.

There was lots of horror movie references; which I like horror movies, so those were fun. Liz is okay, but she’s a bit dumb when it comes to withholding things. I liked Brian and her other friends; they are all supportive of Liz. The overall story and writing just all felt a bit odd. I’d say this is a 3.5 rating; rounded up to a 4 because the story is different and I’m interested to see what the heck is going on.

[Dawn Brazil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m just a tad bit biased but I LOVE this story. I think readers will find the characters delightful (especially if you like horror movies). There is a twist that even surprised me. You’ll have to read to the third book in the series to get the full story.

PS...this is not a horror story