Life as We Knew it

This edition by Marion Lloyd Books 2010

This book left me confused as to whether or not I liked it. I’m loving post-apocalyptic books these days and I felt a bit disappointed in this one. It felt decidedly un-apocalyptical. (And yes, I like to make up words.) I never felt like the main character was in peril. Towards the end, they started running out of food and some of her family got sick, but that was it. I cringed (as I do when I read these types of books) waiting for all hell to break loose, riots in the streets, attacks on their house, one of her family members dying, but all of my cringing was for naught.

The writing was excellent, though, which is why I was so torn. And then it hit me. 16-year-old Buffy would have loved this book. It was a very safe end of the world story and I really liked safe back then. My tastes have changed though, and 38-year-old Buffy needs a bit more. I kind of feel that in these types of stories the main character really needs to go through some difficult stuff to become a really interesting main character. This usually involves losing her family or at least the primary caretaker so that she would be forced to figure things out for herself.

I loved the premise of this story. Oh, and I almost forgot my Nutshell blurb: An asteroid has hit the moon and has moved it closer to Earth triggering tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. This is the story of Miranda and her family (told in journal format) and how they try to survive.

I felt that this would have been far more interesting if it was told from the perspective of someone who was trapped on the top floor of a high rise building when a tsunami floods the entire city. Or something similar. That would give me more of a sense of fear than following the lives of a family who are slowly running out of food. I need to feel that all is lost and that the characters are going to somehow rise above it and be better for it. The main character did grow throughout the story which made me very happy as she really got on my nerves in the beginning.

I enjoyed reading this book but I probably won’t read the sequels. I can’t criticise it too much because it was intended for a much younger audience.

Currently Reading…

I finished The Last Wish on Friday (thoughts on the book to come) and have started a new commute book. I don’ t know about you, but I find it very exciting to start a new book. I’ve started reading Life as we Knew it by Susan Pfeffer. Unlike the previous post-apocalyptic book I read, this one is very much YA . There’s nothing wrong with that, but talk about shifting gears. In my last post, one of the critiques I made was that the fifteen year old boy seemed older than his age. In this book, the protagonist is a sixteen year old girl and so far she sounds very much like a sixteen year old girl. I’m actually finding her kind of annoying. (Yes, I know. I’m never happy.) To be fair, I was pretty annoying when I was sixteen. I’m reasonably sure that I’m not the intended demographic for this book, but the story is good so far, so I’ll stick with it. Unless, of course, the character becomes TSTL. (For those of you not up on the lingo, that stands for Too Stupid To Live.)

Only time, and a few more commutes, will tell. I shall let you know my thoughts anon.