Month: April 2019

Wow, this series took a turn.

Very often, post-apocalyptic fiction will lead into burgeoning dystopia, and with this book, we get a glimpse of that already happening. Four books in, and only four years after the cataclysm, life has gotten very disturbing for our friends, with classism rearing its ugly head and corruption taking its toll on pretty much everyone.

But it is made even worse here because we see all of this unfold as we follow the adventures of Miranda’s youngest brother Jon, now seventeen, who is one of the favoured few living in a comfortable safe town — where he plays soccer to pay his way, if you please — and he has turned into a total asshole.

Jon and his step-mother Lisa (the kids’ Dad is dispensed with in the early passages of the book) live in a rarefied enclave with little Gabriel, into which they gained entry due to the largesse of Alex, of the last two books fame. They are known as clavers, the upper class, who employ servants and look down on the working class, who are commonly called grubs — Alex, now a bus driver, and Miranda, a greenhouse worker, are grubs now. There is supposed to be a metaphor here, about how easy it is for people, given even a modicum of power or status above others, to begin to lord it over their fellows, and yeah, that is true, and I totally get it. But it is brutal to see it happen to a character we have liked for the past three books — and one, moreover, whom we now learn is a serial sexual predator.

The final third of the book is supposed to be Jon’s redemption, having him see the error of his ways through the eyes of his new love, the vaguely egalitarian (but absolutely infuriating) Sarah, and realize that hey, actually my family are just as good as I am, and girls are not my playthings, and also, this town’s caste system is fucked the hell up. But by the time we get there, it is all so bleak and horrific and the disasters have been enacted so thoroughly — along with a Handmaid’s Tale-esque twist — that it is nigh on impossible to forgive him, nor the book itself. 

I wish I hadn’t read this book. It has utterly ruined the (uneven, but withal enjoyable) trilogy that came before it. It is no wonder that the series ended here. Indeed, according to her Author’s Note, this was apparently Pfeffer’s second attempt at this book.

What on the blighted Earth could have been worse than this, we can only speculate.

  SCORECARD

TBR DAY 98: The Shade of the Moon (Last Survivors #4) by Susan Beth Pfeffer
GENRE: YA Post-Apocalypse
PUBLISHED: 2013
TIME ON THE TBR: ~5 years. 
PURCHASED FROM: Amazon.
KEEP: Yes.

Idiot kids.

This is a refrain that ran through my head pretty constantly throughout this book, after our new friend Alex, from the previous novel in this quartet, meets with our old friend Miranda, from the original book in this quartet, and of course they are into each other, because they are the only age-appropriate teens either has spent much time with, and are not related to.

In this book, we’re back in journal mode, with Miranda relating elder brother Matt’s precipitous marriage to the designing Syl; the clan’s continuing battle for survival; and the arrival of Alex and his sister Julie — in company with, hey there Dad and Lisa! And nice to meet you, baby half-brother and road buddy Charlie!

Of course, disaster strikes, because the end of the world sucks, but more importantly, these teens are troublesome as hell and manage to make the end of the world even worse. (Eldest brother Matt as much as any of them, this time out.) Meanwhile, the religious element of this entry is very interesting indeed, as those who were once atheistic, or at the very least agnostic, are won over to devotion, as they seek comfort in a world that is devoid of same.

By turns infuriating and fascinating, This World We Live In brings together the action of the previous two novels perfectly, ups the angst level considerably, and oh, boy. That ending. It is full on.

Next up is the fourth and final installment in the series. I am equal parts excited and anxious to get to it.

SCORECARD

TBR DAY 97: This World We Live In (Last Survivors #3) by Susan Beth Pfeffer
GENRE: YA Post-Apocalypse
PUBLISHED: 2010
TIME ON THE TBR: ~5 years. 
PURCHASED FROM: Amazon.
KEEP: Yes.

The Dead and the Gone departs from our sweet Miranda of Life As We Knew It, and instead introduces us to New York City native Alex Morales. Second in his class at an elite Manhattan academy, he is looking forward to going to Georgetown and getting away from his pesky younger sisters, but when the moon is knocked out of its natural orbit, he and his family must find a way to survive in an increasingly dangerous city, with their parents MIA and Alex now in charge.

In contrast to the atheist Miranda, the Morales clan are very devout, enough that it causes more than one difficulty for them throughout the months that they linger on in a dying New York. The kids attend Catholic schools and they pray, er, religiously, for salvation and peace. And Brianna — foolish, deluded Brianna — is punished mightily for her unquestioning faith. Ooh, that made me so mad at her! Almost as mad as the time Alex slapped his little sister across the face because she dared talk back to him. (Fuck you, Alex!)

The unsavoury side of humanity makes itself far more evident elsewhere in this sequel, too, with evidence of that “societal breakdown turning men into monsters” theme that post-apocalyptic fiction almost always explores. Terrifying, really. And terrifying that it feels so accurate.

Told in third person, rather than first, and dealing with much grittier fare than the original, The Dead and the Gone is as bleak as its title implies, and proves to be a pointed contrast to its predecessor. Reading of Miranda’s tribulations, you couldn’t help but feel awful. But reading of Alex’s much more horrifying reality, you realize that she and her family had it all relatively easy, making it clear that there is always someone who has it worse than you, and to be grateful for what you have.

It is very well done indeed.

SCORECARD

TBR DAY 96: The Dead and the Gone (Last Survivors #2) by Susan Beth Pfeffer
GENRE: YA Post-Apocalypse
PUBLISHED: 2008
TIME ON THE TBR: ~5 years. 
PURCHASED FROM: Amazon.
KEEP: Yes.

Back in 2014, Amazon.com was kind enough to inform me of the release of Susan Beth Pfeffer’s The Shade of the Moon, which its algorithm was pretty sure I would enjoy. Said algorithm neglected to mention the three books preceding that novel in the Last Survivors series, either by accident or on purpose, but once I discovered them for myself, I ordered all four.

Amazon really does know me disconcertingly well.

Life As We Knew It takes the form of a diary, in which we read the first-person thoughts of one Miranda Evans, who witnesses the destruction of the moon’s orbit from her small and prosperous Pennsylvania town. Through months of uncertainty and stockpiling and illness and privation, she and her family eke out an existence in a world much changed, but one that remains remarkably civilized, all told. Certainly, there are rumours of mistreatment of women, some tinpot dictators get their kicks out of some limited power, and Miranda sees some kids with guns potentially bent on some kind of mischief. But here, the people of the town grow to be self-interested but not malignant, and the biggest conflict Miranda faces is with her mother, who really is spectacularly unfair at times — at least, according to her teenage daughter.

It’s a blessed relief, from all the horrors of lawlessness inflicted mostly on women in other examples of this literary field.

One of the more interesting, but little-seen, characters we meet during Miranda’s struggle is her childhood friend Megan, who has always been religious, but on whom the end of the world has worked a kind of pious overload, so determined is she to see the goodness of God even amid all the death and destruction. It’s a subtle piece of writing, especially when Miranda confronts Megan’s manipulative, patronising preacher, a man clearly not suffering the same hunger as his parishioners.

Miranda herself is a mixed bag of teen angst, especially in the early days of the disaster, when the extent has yet to make itself plain and relative comfort can still be maintained. But she is quite likable, very relatable, and only grows more so as she must set aside childish things to take the reins of her much-beset household.

I am very pleased that I took a chance on this whole quartet before even testing out the first one, as I am now very eager to see what happens next to our heroine and her family, including two brothers as well as the aforementioned Mom, in this much-altered — but maybe steadily improving? — world. I cannot wait to keep going.

SCORECARD

TBR DAY 95: Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors #1) by Susan Beth Pfeffer
GENRE: YA Post-Apocalypse
PUBLISHED: 2006
TIME ON THE TBR: ~5 years. 
PURCHASED FROM: Amazon.
KEEP: Yes.