Review: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

I won't be ranking this one with our normal categories, because, my friends, I think this one is outlier - nothing paranormal or romantic, but a solid YAF read!

I guess I always felt even if the world came to an end, McDonald’s still would be open.

High school sophomore Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when an asteroid knocks the moon closer to Earth, the way “one marble hits another.” The result is catastrophic. How can her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis are wiping out the coasts, earthquakes are rocking the continents, and volcanic ash is blocking out the sun? As August turns dark and wintry in northeastern Pennsylvania, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in a year’s worth of journal entries, this heart-pounding story chronicles Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all—hope—in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world. 

I picked up this book as it had won numerous awards and was looking for a little break from zombies (sigh, Bram from Dearly Departed was still on my mind!). While it was definitely well-written it was one heck of a Debbie Downer! It was almost too real in the sense that there was nothing paranormal (besides an asteroid hitting the moon and throwing everything off-kilter) - this actually happening isn't likely, but definitely isn't outside the realm of possibility either.

As the synopsis suggests, the book is written in diary form with Miranda describing the year after the world irreparably changed. It's pretty dark, but I think any story about survival at the end of the world inevitably would be. 

Also, apparently this is a series (what isn't?!) so I couldn't help myself but to include the trailer, because, you know, all the cool kids are doing it! I don't know that I would read the other two books - like I said, it's scary at some points, but I think it is well-written enough to recommend to someone who wanted a more serious book.