Review of Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

November 29, 2009 11 Comments

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Also by this author: This World We Live In
Series: Last Survivors #1
Also in this series: This World We Live In
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on 2008
Genres: Family, Fantasy & Magic, Nature & the Natural World, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 360
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
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I guess I always felt even if the world came to an end, McDonald’s still would be open.
High school sophomore Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when an asteroid knocks the moon closer to Earth, like "one marble hits another." The result is catastrophic. How can her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis are wiping out the coasts, earthquakes are rocking the continents, and volcanic ash is blocking out the sun? As August turns dark and wintery in northeastern Pennsylvania, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.
Told in a year’s worth of journal entries, this heart-pounding story chronicles Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all—hope—in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world. An extraordinary series debut! Susan Beth Pfeffer has written three companion novels to Life As We Knew It, including The Dead and the Gone, This World We Live In, and The Shade of the Moon.

I am in love with the post-apocalyptic dystopian genre. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer is a fine piece of YA apocalyptic reading. Life As We Knew It takes the format of a journal written by Miranda who is sixteen and living a super-normal life until in the space of a single day, everything changes. Before going any further with this review, I should probably let you know I read this during the wee hours of the Dewey 24 Hour Readathon. Life As We Knew It grasped my attention and did not let go until the very end.

So what exactly changes Miranda’s life? Basically, the moon gets hit with a giant asteroid, and since people can be a bit daft everyone in the book is all YAY moon party, until they realize the tides are all messed up resulting in massive weather disasters. Miranda’s area is not exactly hit by the weather disasters but they feel the repercussions. The rest of this character-driven novel is all about survival when the worst happens.

Now, this was not quite as creepy as The Road by Cormac McCarthy, yet I found Life As We Knew It to be just as compelling. I found this book to be scary, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and engrossing. Mostly this is due to the characters whom I feel I know completely. I though Miranda was easy to relate to. She is strong, yet like all people she has her vulnerable moments as well as her selfish moments, one of which brought tears to my eyes. I ask what girl would not be like Miranda if Life As You Knew It were to completely change?

While reading this, I suggest you chug down some gatorade to keep your electrolytes replenished, you never know when disaster is going to strike and you’re going to have to chop some wood or hand wash clothes or hunt animals. Also, I recommend keeping your eye on the moon, so you know when to prepare.

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