Life As We Knew It (edition 2008)

At first, I was annoyed by the diary entry style of writing; but the story flows well enough to forget the "chapters" and journal entries. This is the first time I have read a post-apocalypse story that makes the threat of starvation a very real possibility. ( )

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When a meteor hits the moon and knocks it off its axis, life on earth
is altered forever. High-school student Miranda keeps a diary about how her family copes without electricity, food and gas shortages, and extreme Weather changes.

I was up all night with this one. Gripping, intense, realistic dystopian fiction. A few plot points strained my credulity some, but overall it's taut and involving. Sympathetic characters are finely drawn and their struggles adjusting to the post-asteroid-struck-moon world are eminently believable. It was also nice to read an end-of-the-world book set in a small town- I can't remember a really good one since Alas, Babylon.

Highly recommended. ( )

by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Opening line--"Lisa is pregnant."

Okay. Wow. This book freaked me out. If I ever hear of anything about to crash into the moon, I'll start hoarding food immediately.

Miranda is just a normal 16 year old, bored with school, worrying that she's losing her two friends. Then an asteroid hits the moon, pushing it closer to the earth. And, as quickly as that, her old life is over.

Overall I found the whole thing both eerie and convincing. I mean, I'm really not a scientist, but the effects of the moon moving closer to the earth sounded plausible at least. And in fiction, that's all I really ask for. Miranda's story rings true, mostly. (I was a little less convinced by her relationship with Megan and Sammi.) Her interactions with various family members was definitely one of the highlights for me. I think we sometimes forget that if something that drastic did happen but our families survived, we wouldn't necessarily all change as much as we think. That is, the tensions that you see pre-asteriod and post-asteroid are essentially the same, especially between Miranda and her mother. Magnified by the intensity of the situation, sure.

I also really liked the fact that despite Miranda's mother's hyper-preparedness (she instantly buys all the canned food she can and plans a vegetable garden) things don't work. The volcanic eruptions block out the sun and make the vegetable garden irrelevant. Sometimes it's easy to read these sort of apocalyptic books and think that at least I know how to make bread and cook and garden and knit and sew, etc. But having those skills might not always mean you're okay.

Despite being interested in the book, I never fully connected with the characters. It didn't really bother me that much--I think a lot of it is because of the situation. I was pretty sure from the beginning that at least some of these characters were going to die, so let's not get too attached.

I'd definitely recommend this for anyone who likes slightly dystopian* or apocalyptic stories. There's no particular content, other than a few minor swear words.

* Firefox's spell check doesn't recognize dystopian and suggests you change it to dystrophy or Utopian. ( )

If you liked The Road and/or enjoy reading post-apocalypse books, then this is the book for you! It's actually a trilogy, and I think they give a more accurate account of what life may be like in the wake of an epidemic that threatens our existence. ( )