Out With a Whimper

Life As We Knew It (The Last Survivors #1) by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Summary: Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, 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 journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

Review: A quiet post apocalyptic tale of the world after the moon has been knocked into a closer orbit told from a teenager’s point of view.

One of my Goodreads friends mentions in her review that the world is going out with a whimper and not a bang in this story. That is certainly true. However, I think that is due to the fact that the main character, Miranda, lives far enough away from the coasts, fault lines, active volcanoes, and the like to miss a lot of the immediate catastrophe. The story focuses on one small town so the focus is quite small and you only get hints on what is going on the inside world.

I am not sure if the moon could be knocked into an orbit or what would happen if it was, but the book does a decent job of providing one possible explanation. Miranda writes so much in her diary that isn’t always believable and Miranda can be a very annoying and selfish character at times. Reading Life as We Knew It is rather unnerving because I keep thinking about what would happen if the world, as we knew it, would end tomorrow. I live my life thinking that I will have a future, but what if I don’t?

Rating:

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to those that enjoy young adult apocalyptic novels.