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Oct 20, 2010

karen rated it:

it has come to this. last week, while waiting for more books to come up to shelve, i was idly wondering if this book had come out in paperback yet. it had. so i ran downstairs, pushing folks out of the way on the escalator and making a beeline for teen fiction where i whooped and grabbed a copy. ashamed of my excitement, i made my way back upstairs, trying to figure out how the mighty had fallen. (and by mighty, i mean only those vehemently opposed to adults who read teen fiction). now, i am onl More...

62 comments like (49 people liked it)

Nov 07, 2011

Mark rated it:

I enjoyed the first part in the series, Life as We Knew It, and thought retelling the events from a different perspective and then having the two mains meet up in the third was a smart way to handle the trilogy. But while the ideas were there, ultimately this book really lacks substance and feels like a poor version of the first one. There will be some SPOILERS - be forewarned.

Following Alex and his family who live in NYC, he must find a way to keep his family alive as they go throug More...

5 comments like (19 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2008

Claire rated it:

If I thought Life As We Knew It made me want to create the world's greatest emergency preparedness kit, it was nothing compared to The Dead and the Gone. This book scared the living daylights out of me. After begging a friend for the ARC, I had to put it down instead of reading it straight through in order to avoid nightmares.

Premise of both books: meteor hits moon, natural-disaster apocalypse ensues in the form of a collapsed infrastructure, food shortages, epidemics, etc. Life As More...

6 comments like (16 people liked it)

Dec 11, 2011

Megan rated it:

The Dead and the Gone pretty much sums up this entire book. Everyone in NYC is either dead, gone or soon will be. Asteroid hits moon, earth goes through nasty changes, everyone dies, the end. But wait, you ask… what of the hard core survivalists? I’m sure they are out there somewhere, but they are certainly not in Susan Beth Pfeffer’s second book of her Last Survivors series. This is a shame, because this YA novel started off so good.

In The Dead and the Gone we follow the story of A More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 14, 2008

Lisa rated it:

I enjoyed this book almost as much as the author’s companion book Life As We Knew It, which was a pleasant surprise as I did not expect to like it as much. It’s riveting.

The two books together make for very interesting reading as both detail what happens to different families during a natural disaster that causes the moon to move much closer to earth, causing cataclysmic changes.

This book differs in that it’s not told in diary form by a suburban middle class teenage girl More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 26, 2008

Colleen rated it:

I'm so confused by these books! All the way through I complained and whined, the characters painfully unbelievable and about as dimensional as pancakes, but that said I could not stop reading. If I was making a single copy I brought the book to the copy machine. If I was in the elevator going up one floor, I threw my faces into these pages. I casually snuck paragraphs in between work e-mails, one eye on the ink one on the boss door. Pfeffer is an amazing concept writer, and the concept is what p More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Jun 12, 2010

Ash rated it:

I'm reading these books in a weird order. I haven't read the first of these yet, Life As We Knew It, so I obviously can't compare the two. This was just...sad, but strangely life affirming.

Quick Overview:(I doubt anyone really needs this, but...) An asteroid has hit the moon and knocked it closer to the earth and therefore making everything go out of wack, causing disasters and extreme climate changes all over the world. Alex Morales lives in New York City. He's a hard-working Puert More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 09, 2008

Diana rated it:

This post-apocalyptic novel starts when an asteroid hits the moon shoving it off orbit. This causes tsunamis and volcanoes and widespread death. In New York City, Alex Morales, a Puerto Rican-American high school junior, ends up in charge of his family when they lose contact with his father who is in Puerto Rico for a funeral and his mother who works in a hospital in Queens. It is up to him to protect and care for his two younger sisters, Briana, 14, who is deeply religious, and Julie, 12, who h More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Apr 13, 2010

Jenn "Awww Yeaaahhh" rated it:

This book is a companion piece to Life As We Knew It, and we get to see the same exact events (an asteroid knocks the moon closer to Earth which causes every kind of natural disaster) from a different perspective, this time from a Hispanic boy instead of a white girl, in NYC instead of a small Pennsylvanian town. Their experiences are different enough so that you're not constantly comparing the two even though you have an idea of what's going on.

One of the things I liked best about More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 01, 2012

Jianne rated it:

The Dead and the Gone has not made it up to my expectations especially after loving Life As We Knew It. I'll talk more about the problems that I found in the book rather than the ones I liked (which were fewer actually)

Alex Morales is a seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican New Yorker whose parents disappear in the aftermath of the tidal waves, must must now care for his two younger sisters, Julie and Brianna even when hope seems all gone.

The novel explores on how a young man takes More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 11, 2010

Sara rated it:

Holy stinkin' cow! This book had me on the constant verge of a panic attack throughout the entire 308 pages! So, I don't do well with 'end of the world things,' and that is exactly what this book is about. However, it's an incredible read and has a quick-moving and captivating plot. I would recommend it to boys (especially) and girls over 14. [The author notes that the book is for 12+, but I think that some of the stuff in here would be too much for kids under 14. My 12 year old brother would st More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 10, 2009

Ashley rated it:

The Dead and the Gone is a strange move for an author and likely a disappointment for readers of Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It. Described as a “companion novel” to Life as We Knew It, The Dead and the Gone provides no extension of the earlier novel; instead, we see (again) the crises of tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruption, famine, and epidemic disease caused by the moon being knocked out of its orbit. This book covers roughly the same span of time and addresses many of the same issues—both More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Aug 06, 2008

Suzi rated it:

You know, and I know I'm repeating myself here, but I think this is a 3.5 star book. One thing that disturbed me in Life As We Knew It was the lack of community awareness — the mom was all about her family, and her family alone, and she's proven right over and over again throughout the book. In this one, Alex and his two younger sisters live in New York, which means there are a lot more people going through this, a lot more infrastructure and a lot more opportunities for people to work with each More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 13, 2008

Dave rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2009

Lara rated it:

I absolutely loved the first book in this two-book series, Life as We Knew it.

This one wasn't quite as captivating to me, but still very engaging. I was interested to see a different perspective on the entire disaster, and how differently it affected New York City than it did the small town portrayed in the first book. Mainly because in the first book the family was so isolated that the entire ordeal was about just them. The rest of the world could have been dead for all they kne More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 08, 2008

Rachel rated it:

We were lucky enough to get an advance readers copy of this book and wow....it was dark. But good! The story is set in the same time frame as the first book except the main character Alex, lives in New York City. There are obviously more people in NYC, so he sees a lot more death than Miranda did. They face some of the same problems...depleting food supplies, no electricity, and freezing temperatures, but Alex has a whole new set of problems not faced in the first book. How do you stay warm if More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 09, 2008

Karin rated it:

Companion Novel to Life As We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer. Release date: June 1, 2008

As is the problem in Life As We Knew It, the moon has been hit by a meteor and is knocked off of its axis. The moon is now closer to the Earth which sets off a chain reaction of natural disasters throughout the world. Alex Morales lives in New York City which is devastated right from the start. The Statue of Liberty has been wiped out and many people were washed out to sea by huge tidal waves cause More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 30, 2008

Hayden rated it:

If I had read this one first, I might have liked it better than Life As We Knew It. As it was, I was already hip to the premise: asteroid hits moon, knocking it into a closer orbit of earth and unleashing massive worldwide environmental devastation.

But unlike the first book, which was set in the burbs, this one is set in NYC, and told from the point of view of a Puerto Rican kid trying to look out for his two younger sisters in the absence (and likely deaths) of his parents and ol More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 16, 2008

Jess rated it:

This companion to Life as We Knew It is much darker - perhaps because, even though this is set in a different place, the reader knows a little bit about what will happen. And, unlike the narrator in LAWKT, who is allowed to enjoy herself a little before things go downhill (and they always go down hill when the moon is pushed closer to the earth), Alex is thrown immediately into the horror of what has happened. This has the same tension as the first one, or perhaps more, and was just as difficu More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 22, 2011

Nikolas rated it:

Good book, but lacking in some aspects

The Dead and The Gone was an interesting novel and a pretty good read but just had some things in it that didn’t quite click with me and as a result affected my reaction to the book. I had a lot of difficulty connecting the main character, his family, and his situation just because of all the catholic references; Not being catholic myself it was hard following the constant catholic references like Convent, Mass, Arch-Bishop I kept getting lost. Also the cata More...

0 comments like

Dec 21, 2008

Barky rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Feb 03, 2012

Jennifer rated it:

Once again, I am completely blown away by Pfeffer’s captivating continuation of The Last Survivors series. This installment introduces the Morales family of New York City, giving the apocalyptic tale a new angle. We go through the initial onset of the disaster for a second time, but Pfeffer keeps it new and exciting. Even though we know exactly what will happen, we are still shocked by the dramatic emotional content.

Alex is suddenly thrust into the adult role of the household with youn More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2012

John rated it:

Would you like to embark upon an incredible story; one that involves suspense, melancholia, and surprises? This frightening story is extremely engaging, and it was one of my favorite reads. When a meteorite strikes the moon and moves it too close to Earth, what will the Morales family, and the rest of the world, do? Disease has spread, food is scarce, panic is omnipresent, and disaster has struck! Alex Morales and his two sisters have to bring out the tenacity that is deep within them, and survi More...

1 comment like

Jan 19, 2012

Sheila rated it:

The third and final book in Susan Beth Pfeffer's trilogy, this world we live in brilliantly pulls everything from the first two books together. In Life As We Knew It, Miranda and her family struggle to survive after the moon is knocked closer to the earth, at the exact same time, Alex and his sisters in another part of the world fear for their parents well being as they battle to find food and turn to unthinkable deeds to stay together and stay alive.

Now, it has been a year since the m More...

0 comments like

Jan 17, 2012

Allison rated it:

Something about these books is really addicting!

Anyway, this one is a legit 4-star, in my opinion. Unlike Life As We Knew It, The Dead and the Gone is written in third-person (apparently Pfeffer changed the POV because she couldn't conceive of a teen boy keeping a diary), which gives Pfeffer a little bit more freedom as far as prose and voice is concerned. I think the story benefits from it. It doesn't hurt that the character of Alex is naturally more serious in tone than Miranda fr More...

0 comments like

Dec 14, 2011

Lizaehs added it

I thought The Dead and The Gone was a pretty good book but not as good as the first book that Susan Beth Pfeffer did. The setting was way different than the first book that was set in Pennsylvania it is now set in New York City, where you follow the Morales family though their struggles. The main issue in this book is that a huge asteroid hits the moon sending world into chaos. The world is slowly coming to an end because humans are slowly dying because the uv rays can't get through the clouds t More...

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Dec 05, 2011

Myvampfiction rated it:

Reviewed by Sue

*Spoilers Ahead*

The Dead and The Gone follows the same series of events as Life as We Knew It, except this time around we get to see the fallout as it happens in New York City, and from the vantage point of a 17 year old male, Alex Morales. Alex is thrust into the role of primary caregiver of his two younger sisters after his father is presumed dead in the tsunamis and his mother likely died in the subway tunnels which subsequently flooded after the tides rose More...

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Nov 08, 2011

Leo rated it:

I would give the book The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer two stars out of five because it is depressing and leaves the reader with no sense of hope. “ ‘Do you want to go to mass?’ he asked, in spite of his terror that Julie might vanish on the streets as Bri had. Julie shook her head. ‘There’ll be other Christmases,’ she said. They both knew that was unlikely. Neither said so.” (292). This quote is depressing to me because it tells the reader that Alex and Julie will not survive t More...

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Oct 24, 2011

Jennelle rated it:

Unlike "Life as We Knew It" you often have no clue in this book what is going on in the world, anymore than Alex did as it was happening. Instead, you see what he sees, the results of the problems in the world. Having read the first book I often knew why certain things were happening, but I could see that knowing or not knowing wouldn't have made the story make any less sense (in fact, when I loaned the book to my friend I told her to read this first so we could compare and all it di More...

0 comments like

Oct 20, 2011

Adrienne rated it:

Ok so I was wrong about the whole trilogy thing. What happens in these books, which is actually a cool idea, is the first book is about Miranda in Pennsylvania, and the second book is about Alex in New York, a completely different cast of characters dealing with the same end-of-the-world catastrophe. But I hated this one. First off, I was infuriated by the gender roles and sexism in this book. Alex automatically delegates all cooking and cleaning to his sisters, while he always does the "ma More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

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