Persy -- Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Everyone knew the meteor was coming and it wasn't a big deal. Everyone left their houses to watch it strike the moon. Some were scared, some excited, and some didn't care. But then the unexpected happens. The moon is knocked closer to the Earth, and Hell breaks loose -- slowly.

Tsunamis sweep the globe due to the tidal change, power frequently goes out, and that's just the beginning. Hundreds die in just moments. Others take a year to flicker out of existence.

During all this, Miranda, a teenager in Pennsylvania, is faithfully keeping a diary, starting a few days before the collision and continuing it on throughout the apocalypse. She takes us through months and months of survival along with her family: Mom, Jonny, Matt, Dad, Lisa (stepmother), Peter (Mom's boyfriend), and Mrs. Nesbitt (next-door neighbor).

I'm kind of hesitant to review this right now, because I JUST finished it a few hours ago, but I really want to. So I hope you're all prepared for some scattered and disconnected thoughts.

The beginning is really dodgy. I almost put it down countless times, but for some reason I kept on reading. When I was about halfway through, it started to get really good and really hard to put down.

At first, Miranda is the dullest person ever. She's not really annoying, and she's miserable, but she has some pretty good reasons, so I don't mind that so much. She just seems like a really boring person. And she never gets exactly interesting, but she grows so much and when I set the book down, it took me a minute to connect end Miranda with beginning Miranda. And yet, she's still the same character.

None of the characters are really likeable, but they aren't meant to be. It's a very realistic book, which means none of the characters are mind-blowingly awesome. That's just something you have to get over, but the suspense makes it easier.

And the ending is really good. I don't want to give anything away, so... I really can't say much, but I'm impressed with Susan Beth Pfeffer's ability to write a good, final ending. And yet, it's not final final. If you know what I mean.

The only thing that really really irritates me (besides the beginning) is the scene where they burn hair. Burning hair produces an awful smell. Geez.

The second book in the Last Survivors series,The Dead And The Gone, is about someone completely different going through the same disaster, so I'm looking forward to it. Even though I grew to almost enjoy Miranda, I'm glad we're done with her.

In short, I'd strongly recommend Life As We Knew It, but it requires some persistence in order to get past the beginning and into the good stuff.

--Persy

You might like this if you: like survival/apocalyptic novels; enjoy books like Unwind (Neal Shusterman, http://persyandarty.blogspot.com/2010/09/persy-unwind-by-neal-shusterman.html) or Gone (Michael Grant); like beautiful moon covers; or if you're worried about the moon and want a guide on how to survive the oncoming apocalypse.