The Dead and the Gone - Susan Beth Pfeffer

[goodreads]

Title: The Dead and the Gone
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Genre: Dystopian
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 336 pages
Date read: August 2011

This harrowing companion novel to Life as We Know It examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, revealed through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Alex Morales. When Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland, and food and aid dwindle.

I hadn't actually intended to read this - at least not so soon after the first one - but I discovered I couldn't stop thinking about the series, so I figured I might as well.

Despite taking place more or less over the same period of time as Life As We Know It, The Dead and the Gone is very different both in atmosphere and in the way the characters respond to the disaster. LAWKI was an epistolary novel, this is a third person narrative. I definitely preferred the epistolary style, but think Susan Pfeffer still did a good job at making the reader feel for the main characters - but of course the happenings can never be as shocking when you know what to expect. I think that might also be why I never got to care as much for Alex, Bri and Julie as I did for Miranda and her family. Still, it's a fascinating book, and I'll definitely be following the series with interest.