Book Review: Gone by Michael Grant

Gone (Gone #1)

Michael Grant

Publication Date: June 28th 2008

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 558

Genre: SciFi, Young Adult, Dystopia

Everyone except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not a single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Gone, too, are the phones, internet and television. There is no way to get help.

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

It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen an war is imminent.

I have a confession to make. I hate The Lord of the Flies. I was made to read this book in high school and it haunted me, just haunted me for months afterwards. I think it's well written and brings up a lot of interesting ideas and philosophies, but I can't stand it. I'm one of those annoying optimists who believes there is good in everyone and watching things go from bad to worse in that book made my stomach turn.

Gone has a slightly similar idea to The Lord of the Flies, suddenly there is no one over the age of 14 and the kids have to take care of themselves. Similar themes are brought up, but I feel like they are dealt with differently. Of course it helps that it's still civilization, there are girls as well as boys, and ones mostly in charge are 14 and not younger(and oh yeah, super powers). Apparently these changes did well for me because I loved Gone.

This book lies somewhere in between Dystopia and SciFi, closer to SciFi as the Dystopian elements are more "Last Man Alive" apocalypse than government problem Dystopias. Also the most important idea in the book is that there has been leaks from the nuclear power plant, causing kids to develop powers and animals to mutate.

My favourite part of this book is the fact that it is told from several different perspectives. This is the way I enjoy learning about a situation the most. I get a few pieces from some kids, more pieces from others. These kids are incredibly well developed in my opinion as well. They have reasons for doing what they're doing and things are not as clear cut as it seems. The pace of the book is also highly addictive. I did not start this book expecting to finish it that night, but I did. I sat on my bed completely mesmerized for hours upon hours unable to stop. I was even starting to fall asleep with my face on the pages. It doesn't help that the chapters have a countdown on them, at first you wonder what the count down is, and then when you know it helps to propel you along.

I want to know more about the Darkness, so much more. It scares me as much as it scares Lana. What is it, what was it? Was it something that was ordinary before there was the mutations? I also want to know why the mutations began happening and what exactly caused the meltdown. Where are the people who disappeared?

The end of this book has left me with more questions then answers and has set me up perfectly for the next book, Hunger. Things are far from over, all we know is that the kids can deny whatever causes them to disappear at fifteen and Caine and Drake are temporarily beaten. The preview chapter of Hunger was enough to send chills down my spine and cause me to want to know what's going to happen, obviously from the title they are trying to solve the issue that eventually McDonald's and the Grocery Store are going to run out.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the pacing and characters of Unwind. Honestly, although the plots are very different, that was the book I kept thinking of as I read Gone. I recommend this to lovers of dystopias, even if I don't technically count this and to anyone who loves fast pace adventure and mystery. This is a book I had the money to buy and I don't regret the purchase one bit as it has gone to my "favorites" bookshelf.

4.5 Bookmarks