Review:Panic by Sharon Draper

Author: Sharon M. Draper
Title: Panic
Publication: March 12, 2013
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 272 pp.
Source: AroundtheworldArcTours

Synopsis
Diamond knows not to get into a car with a stranger.

But what if the stranger is well-dressed and handsome? On his way to meet his wife and daughter? And casting a movie that very night—a movie in need of a star dancer? What then?

Then Diamond might make the wrong decision.

It’s a nightmare come true: Diamond Landers has been kidnapped. She was at the mall with a friend, alone for only a few brief minutes—and now she’s being held captive, forced to endure horrors beyond what she ever could have dreamed, while her family and friends experience their own torments and wait desperately for any bit of news.

Thoughts: Diamond just made the worst decision of her life but she doesn't realize it at first until she wakes up in a dark room with her arms restrained. Disoriented, confused and scared, her attempts to call for help go unanswered. She discovers that no one knows where she is and the man that promised to make her a star has sinister plans and dirty deeds that no fifteen year old girl should ever experience. Will she make it home with her spirit intact or will her world be forever shattered by the horrors inflicted upon her.

Draper handles a serious situation with delicacy. As a reader, I was able to visualize the horrors that Diamond experiences without the author going into  much detail about the events that transpire. The story is about Diamond but she only has a few chapters in the book, yet we see into the lives of the other dancers and the strain her absence places upon them. Layla's story is also important because she finds herself in a relationship with someone she thinks loves her but his love hurts and suffocates her. However, she doesn't know her worth, she does not see beauty as she looks into her own eyes. 

I think the story seems realistic and sadly young women find themselves in unhealthy relationships with boys that don't know or care to treat them with respect. Diamond makes me wonder, what in the world was she thinking. I found it hard to believe that she would be so trusting and that no red flags were popping up in her head. Needless to say, what happens to her in this book upset me...mostly because things like this occur so much in real life. Can you imagine someone taking your little girl, niece or sister? Just truly disturbing. Overall, the writing flows well and the characters are realistic. A good read about the nightmare of child abduction.