The Dead and The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer: Review Posted by Tiffany at 2:49 PM

Title: The Dead and The Gone
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer (blog)
Published: March 2008 by Harcourt Children's Books
Pages: 321
Price: $6.99 Book Depository $7.99 Amazon 

Series: Last Survivors #2
Rating: 3.5/5
Synopsis: Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It enthralled and devastated readers with its brutal but hopeful look at an apocalyptic event--an asteroid hitting the moon, setting off a tailspin of horrific climate changes. Now this harrowing companion novel examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, revealed through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Alex Morales. When Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland, and food and aid dwindle.
     With haunting themes of family, faith, personal change, and courage, this powerful new novel explores how a young man takes on unimaginable responsibilities. (Goodreads)

Initial Thoughts: After reading the first book in the series and hearing reports of the horrible things going on in the cities on the coast, I was really excited to read about the disaster from the POV of a teen in New York City.


Review: The main character annoyed the heck out of me. He was very simple, very good, and extremely ready to accept blame/responsibility for everything. He was very much a Middle Grade hero. One of the things I liked about the first book was that the main character went to a few dark places during the collapse of her world. She was still a bit too good to be realistic, but these books are more for younger YA readers. Alex went through a much harder ordeal and should have shown more desperation than he did. His sisters were very annoying people.

The story itself was very scary. Society seemed to crumple almost immediately here and these kids were just left alone in the middle of it to try and find a way to survive. The corpse identification scene was horrifying, mostly because it's not that unlikely. My only problem here is that, once again, there is a miraculous salvation in the face of impending doom. I'd feel better if it wasn't a miracle each time. It just seems too lucky and the timing is perfect. Then again, who wants to read about people for 300 pages and then have them all die?

My biggest problem with this book? It doesn't take you all the way to the meeting at the end of the first book. This means that in book three we'll have to read some more backstory on Alex or just never know how he ended up at her house. Figuring this out was the main reason that I wanted to read this book. I feel that she should have brought it up flush with the end of book one so that we can start the final book in the trilogy fresh, without any backstory.


Quick Review: A terrifying look at what could happen in the big cities if a major catastrophe occurs. The characters are a bit simple and the hero is much too "good", but it's nothing that would bother a MG or younger YA reader. Definitely worth a try, if only to learn about the mysterious visitors from book one.

Review: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer Posted by Tiffany at 7:23 PM

Title: Life As We Knew It
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer (author's blog)
Publisher: Harcourt (site)
Pages: 337 (paperback)
Price: $7.49 Book Depository $7.99 (and 4-for-3) Amazon $8.09 B&N
Rating: 4/5
Series: The Last Survivors: Book 1
Synopsis:
It's almost the end of Miranda's sophomore year in high school, and her journal reflects the busy life of a typical teenager: conversations with friends, fights with mom, and fervent hopes for a driver's license. When Miranda first begins hearing the reports of a meteor on a collision course with the moon, it hardly seems worth a mention in her diary. But after the meteor hits, pushing the moon off its axis and causing worldwide earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, all the things Miranda used to take for granted begin to disappear. Food and gas shortages, along with extreme weather changes, come to her small Pennsylvania town; and Miranda's voice is by turns petulant, angry, and finally resigned, as her family is forced to make tough choices while they consider their increasingly limited options. Yet even as suspicious neighbors stockpile food in anticipation of a looming winter without heat or electricity, Miranda knows that that her future is still hers to decide even if life as she knew it is over.


Initial Thoughts: I love this cover, with the beautiful night scene and the giant moon, but what sold me on the book was the post-apocalyptic theme. I liked that it focused on how  the world ended instead of just how people were coping afterward. 


Review: This book was amazing. It was written in a stark, terrifying voice. As Miranda's life becomes more and more desperate, you feel like you're right there with her. Every time I put this one down, I had to shake off the tension and hopelessness that you feel as you read. There wasn't an awful lot to Miranda, she was a simple character. What really makes this book is the way people around her begin to throw off their civilized masks and commit acts of desperation. By the end of the book, you are almost completely without hope that any of the characters you've come to love will survive. The writing style is simple, no-nonsense, and addictive. I couldn't put this one down. In short; go out and get this book, you'll love it. It will scare you, break your heart, and leave you wondering what you would do in her shoes. Can't wait to read the sequel, The Dead and The Gone.

Other books in this series:
The Dead and The Gone(Book 2),
 This World We Live In (Book 3)