I know, you know, and pretty much everyone else knows that I love distopian novels (do I spell that differently every time I type it?). This isn't one, it's more post-apocalyptic. In truth I could be making up the distinction in my head but I'll explain what I see as the difference. Distopian (dystopian? I think that's how I usually spell it) novels for me mean a story where the government took control (maybe forcefully and all of a sudden, maybe slowly over time) and tried to make things "better" but really it's all just much worse and messed up. Post-apocalyptic is more there was a natural disaster or giant apocalypse of some kind and now people are just trying to survive. To me, The Hunger Games is probably a little of both. Ok, moving on to this actual book.
I had absolutely no idea what Life As We Knew It was about before I started it. Sarah's aunt recommended it to me so I tried it. On page three I decided I'd never read any of the sequels and thought I'd figured out what the book was about. I was completely and totally wrong and now I'm on hold for one of the others in the trilogy at the library. Basic story is an asteroid hits the moon and moves it closer to the earth and all hell breaks loose. Tide changes cause floods all over the nation (and world) and that's just the beginning. Miranda and her family do what they can to survive the changes to their small Pennsylvania town.
Listen, I'm not here to just tell you a summary of a book. If you want that you can get on Wikipedia or any number of other places. I'm just here to tell you that this is a good book and you should give it a try. Two parting thoughts. One: I'm not sure if I'll like the other books in the series since the main character changes and I hate when that happens. Two: If you read a lot of this book while sleeping (or not sleeping) on the street all night with cops driving by frequently and thousands of other people camped out then you get a really bizarre feeling that maybe the world really is ending and it's very confusing and hard to come back to reality.
I loved the book! I didn't know much about the sequels so let me know!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you read this! I've been thinking about you, wondering if you had and what you thought about it. Here's my thoughts:
ReplyDeletea) Book #2 is different from this one. I like that Life As We Knew It was written in first person format. Book #2 is written in 3rd person. It's harder to get closer to the characters in #2, but it's interesting to see how they cope with the disasters living in NYC.
b) Book #3 ties the characters from both books together nicely. And the story is told by Miranda again, through her diaries, so that made me happy.
c) Like you, it was difficult for me to separate reality from fiction. While I was reading it, Calvin was showing signs of being sick and the skies were constantly grey and cloudy. I would walk into my food storage room and freak out that we didn't have enough food.
d) I think these are important books to read. They're not light hearted reading, but they make you think and maybe even change how you view/approach life. There is a big moment in #3 that makes you really STOP and think, "what would I do if I was in this situation?"
Let me know if you keep reading them and what you think!