Year: 2010

Hunger (Gone, Bk 2) by Michael Grant

It’s been three months since everyone under the age of fourteen became trapped in the bubble known as the FAYZ. Things have only gotten worse. Food is running out, and each day more kids are developing supernatural abilities. Soon tension rises between those with powers and those without, and when an unspeakable tragedy occurs, chaos erupts. It’s the normals against the mutants, and the battle promises to turn bloody.

But something more dangerous lurks. A sinister creature known as the Darkness has begun to call to the survivors in the FAYZ. It needs their powers to sustain its own. When the Darkness calls, someone will answer — with deadly results.

I finished this book last night and really all I can say is… Dude.  Whoa.

Now that I have my Saved by the Bell reaction out of the way, I’ll try to be a little more coherent.  This series is amazing and this book is just as good as, if not better than, the first one.  There are paranormal elements, but at the heart, it’s about a group of kids struggling to live.  There are a lot of characters in the book and sometimes when it would switch to someone’s perspective, it would take me a minute to remember who they were and what had last happened to them, but all of the characters feel like they are real kids and teenagers facing an impossible situation.  Evil plans don’t always work out exactly as planned.  Neither do good plans.  Even the “bad guys” felt pretty human in this book.  I really liked Sam in Gone, but in Hunger, I was blown away by him.  Pretty amazing character in my opinion.

The powers people exhibit and mystery of The Darkness continue to intrigue in this book.  How people react to both of those things was really interesting and kept me on the edge of my seat.

And one last thing – I loved the title of this book and how it was the theme for so many of the stories going on.  The kids’ physical hunger, The Darkness’ hunger, the hunger for power exhibited by several different people… so many different ways it could be applied.

This book is long and probably not for everyone, but I think fans of dystopian lit will enjoy it.

Gone (Gone, Bk 1) by Michael Grant

In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.

Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what’s happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.

It’s a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else…

I liked this book.  It was very “Lord of the Flies meets Heroes.” I really like the main character Sam.  He’s the one the town kids look to when the crisis begins and he tries to rise to the challenge, but he’s also a very believable teenage boy.  I thought many of the characters felt very real – there were few characters that were one dimensional.  Occasionally, especially at the beginning, it was hard to keep all the characters and story lines straight, but it got easier as the book went on and the separate story lines began to blend together.

The Coates kids (and their impact on the town kids) were really interesting.  I was amazed at how easily Caine took over the town, but I kind of understand how he did it.  I thought the town’s reaction (both at the beginning and later in the book) to the Coates kids was pretty intriguing.

There were a lot of questions laid out in this book.  Some were answered, but many were not as this is the beginning of a series.  One complaint I do have is that the book was loooooong.  That’s not generally a problem for me, but there were a couple times as I read that I really wished the action would hurry up.  I started the second book in the series, but it is very overwhelming and I;m struggling to get back into the world.  I just want answers! :)