I don't even need to make excuses for why I disappeared this time. I'm back and that's as good as it gets. This book very heavily reminds me of a similar science fiction book I read a few years ago called No Safety in Numbers. Honestly this book is very light in comparison to that but the concept is similar.
The cover-
The cover-
Kaelyn has enough things to occupy her mind. After their big fight, her best friend Leo moved to New York City and refuses to reply to any of her emails. High School hasn't been nearly as fun without him but Kaelyn manages to sleepwalk through. At home the tension isn't any higher. Her family hasn't been nearly as together as they used to be for a whole assortment of reasons.
A mysterious disease has been killing off people living on their small island off the coast of Canada and neither Canadian government nor American government is willing to help them. Left to their own devices, Kaelyn finds it hard to protect her young cousin from the sickness as her family is slowly being poisoned and left to die.
Being alone for so long makes her think, wondering about why it had to be her stuck in this situation watching many of the people she loves die suddenly because of a sickness they can't even cure.
My thoughts-
This book really was interesting. I particularly liked the format of it. Even though it was told from the first person point of view of Kaelyn, there were some parts of it that were told like a diary entry or a letter to a friend. In fact, that is what the whole book is. It is partway recounting the history of the epidemic and part way a letter to Leo, expressing Kaelyn's thankfulness that he moved just in time that he wouldn't have to suffer what the inhabitants of the island were. But the narration also holds the bittersweet memories of losing a friend. From time to time she remembers times when they were still friends and didn't have a care in the world. Before all of this started.
I think that Kaelyn's character is very dynamic for a main character in one of these almost clichéd apocalypse novels. She has a lot of insight into her situation and a curiosity that sometimes makes her throw away normal barriers to get what she wants. I was very happy with this kind of character that doesn't seem to either know everything or know nothing about her situation. It definitely made the book a lot more enjoyable to read.
I was especially interested in Quentin and the whole deal with the gang of boys that were hogging up supplies to sustain themselves instead of distributing them like everyone else or donating to the hospital. I feel that even though Quentin was insane, he knew something about what was going to happen. I think he acted the way he did because he was scared that they would all die eventually. It would just be very slow and painful.
On the subject of the gang, Garret's sudden change from "evil" to "good" was a slightly needed relief in the seriousness of the whole book. When he started teaching Kaelyn how to protect herself, I knew right away this would end up in love. From where he showed up, all throughout the middle of the book was the well-needed less dark and serious portion. There are so many things you can make a reader feel in a tense situation, but after a while it does get boring.
This book has a lot of character development which is essential for a book with very few main characters. It's not too much where it becomes overwhelming, but just enough to make it seem like Kaelyn has gained something throughout her experiences and hasn't stayed exactly the same as she was in the beginning of the book. And going through the things that she has, Kaelyn surely ended the book a lot stronger, but a lot more confused than she started.
Age Rating 14+
There are some probably mildly offensive references made, but they are sparingly used. There are graphic details of death and suffering related to the illness. Overall, this is a pretty safe book, not too heavy on the details about the sickness and not too heavy on the details of the teenage lifestyle. Just enough that it accents the book but doesn't define it.
((There are two more books in this series.))
Being alone for so long makes her think, wondering about why it had to be her stuck in this situation watching many of the people she loves die suddenly because of a sickness they can't even cure.
My thoughts-
This book really was interesting. I particularly liked the format of it. Even though it was told from the first person point of view of Kaelyn, there were some parts of it that were told like a diary entry or a letter to a friend. In fact, that is what the whole book is. It is partway recounting the history of the epidemic and part way a letter to Leo, expressing Kaelyn's thankfulness that he moved just in time that he wouldn't have to suffer what the inhabitants of the island were. But the narration also holds the bittersweet memories of losing a friend. From time to time she remembers times when they were still friends and didn't have a care in the world. Before all of this started.
I think that Kaelyn's character is very dynamic for a main character in one of these almost clichéd apocalypse novels. She has a lot of insight into her situation and a curiosity that sometimes makes her throw away normal barriers to get what she wants. I was very happy with this kind of character that doesn't seem to either know everything or know nothing about her situation. It definitely made the book a lot more enjoyable to read.
I was especially interested in Quentin and the whole deal with the gang of boys that were hogging up supplies to sustain themselves instead of distributing them like everyone else or donating to the hospital. I feel that even though Quentin was insane, he knew something about what was going to happen. I think he acted the way he did because he was scared that they would all die eventually. It would just be very slow and painful.
On the subject of the gang, Garret's sudden change from "evil" to "good" was a slightly needed relief in the seriousness of the whole book. When he started teaching Kaelyn how to protect herself, I knew right away this would end up in love. From where he showed up, all throughout the middle of the book was the well-needed less dark and serious portion. There are so many things you can make a reader feel in a tense situation, but after a while it does get boring.
This book has a lot of character development which is essential for a book with very few main characters. It's not too much where it becomes overwhelming, but just enough to make it seem like Kaelyn has gained something throughout her experiences and hasn't stayed exactly the same as she was in the beginning of the book. And going through the things that she has, Kaelyn surely ended the book a lot stronger, but a lot more confused than she started.
Age Rating 14+
There are some probably mildly offensive references made, but they are sparingly used. There are graphic details of death and suffering related to the illness. Overall, this is a pretty safe book, not too heavy on the details about the sickness and not too heavy on the details of the teenage lifestyle. Just enough that it accents the book but doesn't define it.
((There are two more books in this series.))
