Review :: The Dead & The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

The Dead & The Gone (Last Survivor's #2) by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Released :: June 1st 2008




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. -- Summary from Goodreads.com





I know this is the second book in the series, ut seeing as I read it before I read the first one, I'm writing the review for this book first. I tried writing it in order of the series, butI kept wanting to talk about how I felt about reading this book. It was difficult.

When I first read the backs of the book, I was insanely interested, but skeptical. I like reading about disaters on Earth and how the people here are affected. I'm odd, but it's cool to me. I knew I wanted to read the series, but I wasn't sure if it would be good. I bought this one anyways. They didn't have the first novel on the shelf, so I bought this one and read it...

In like 3 hours.

I couldn't put it down. It's amazing. It sucked me in before I reached the middle of chapter 1. I was gone. It had me in it's claws, and I wasn't trying to get away.

Susan is an amazing writer. The story is so imaginative. So real! I was still in the early stage of my pregnancy when I read this like a month ago, so I read it in bed, and I can't tell you how many times I had to set it down and take a breather. I can't tell you how many times I started crying (not from the hormones) and had to get up and walk around. A few times I walked outside and looked around to make sure what I was reading wasn't really happening.

That's how real it is. The tragedies are yours. The loss is yours. The tears, the greif, the suffereing...you feel it all. You get scared, and look out the window to see if you can see the moon. Or you simply get scared of the moon. Quite a few people in the book did.

The best things about the book to me is that it takes place in New York. I don't want to give too much away, I never do, but seeing New York City through Alex's eyes as such a weakened part of our country was indescribable. I've always looked at New York City as a strong, busy and lively city. That's not the case in the book. Not after the asteriod. Not after the effects of the asteriod. NYC is dead and gone, just like the title says.

I highly recommend this book to anyone. Teens, some pre-teens, adults. Though you'd never want to think of something like this happening, if it did, this book gives you a heads up. It will give you the strength to get through. To survive. Just like Alex tries to do for himself and his two younger sisters.

I give this book :

To tempt you to read it if you haven't already, I'll leave you with a little excerpt.

Alex sat there, absolutely still, the sound so low he could barely hear. The words and pictures assaulted him anyway. Horrific loss of life. Lower Manhattan decimated. Staten Island, Long Island devastated. Blackouts, looting, riots. Curfew between 8pm and 6am. Tides twenty feet tall, sweeping away people, trees, even buildings. Mandatory evacuations. Plane crashes. Countless numbers of people dead in subways and in car from tunnel flooding.