Panic By Sasha Dawn
Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
2019
*E-ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
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.
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.