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.

Review :: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Released :: August 24th 2010

My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.


It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans -- except Katniss.


The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay -- no matter what the personal cost.
--Summary from Goodreads.com


4 hours, people. It took me 4 hours to read this book, and if I hadn't been so tired after the first time, I would have read it again. And again.

Fans of the series know how I feel when I say I nearly died waiting for this book to come out. Hunger Games and Catching Fire are the first two books of this series, and after every single book you can't help but think 'It CANNOT get any better than this.'

But it did.

Sadly, Mockingjay is the last of the series, and I cried for ten minutes about that fact alone. The other times I cried were for the major...for the unexpected turn of events. In most books I can point out a character and think 'They aren't going to make it' or read a few lines and be like 'This is what's going to happen' but not in this book. That's thanks to an amazing writer and story-teller.

Nothing will prepare you for reading this book. Nothing can prepare you for the profound love that you will read about. The immense greif that you will read about. The deep suffering, and tragedy that you will enconter as you read through this book. If you think the first two books had these things, if you think that they went beyond your expectations, you are in for one big surprise. Mockingjay is all that and more.

There were very few times that I just had to set the book aside. I set it aside, and took a few deep breaths and when I was calm, I picked it back up. I'm trying to find the one word to describe this book, but I can't. Nothing seems to fit it properly. The words I'm typing and erasing just aren't good enough to describe the book. Maybe one day I'll find the right one, and I'll let you know.

The only thing I can tell you is this: Mockingjay will haunt you. It will devour you completly. It will take you on a ride so exhilarating. Sometimes you will want it to stop, because it's so hertbreaking, but you know can't simply stop. You have the urge to keep going, because you know it's worth it. You hope it's worth it. You have to find out what happens. You want to see if there's a happy ending after all what has happened.

I gladly give Mockingjay my highest rating :

This is a book that will stick with me, and most of you, forever. The whole series will. It's...unforgettable. If I ever got to meet Suzanne Collins, I'd thank her profusely for giving books lovers around the world such an amazing story to read. I'll save these books for my neice, and my children, to read when they get to that age. That's how much I love this book, and the series. That's how good it is.

This concludes my review. I'll leave you with a bit of a teaser. If you haven't read any of the books, you must do so immediately. Got it?!


Teaser:

So after, when he whispers, "You love me. Real or not real?"
I tell him, "Real."

Those of you who are fans of the books know about Team Peeta and Team Gale...well, we find out who Katniss chose. Who did you choose? I've been Team Peeta all along. But Gale was nearly tied with him.