Sign in with FacebookKat Kennedy's Reviews > Gone
Gone (Gone, #1)
by Michael Grant (Goodreads Author)
by Michael Grant (Goodreads Author)
Kat Kennedy's review
bookshelves: too-painful-to-finish, the-great-shelf-of-meh, kat-s-book-reviews
Jun 03, 10
bookshelves: too-painful-to-finish, the-great-shelf-of-meh, kat-s-book-reviews
Read in April, 2010
I suppose I should provide some kind of explanation as to why I didn't finish reading this book.
It's not because the concept was stupid - actually the concept was quite interesting and would make for a fantastic philosophical discussion.
It's not because it was poorly written - actually it was written quite well with a great plot and interesting world building and action packed scenes.
It's not because the characters were horrible or annoying - Actually, Sam is really likable if not frustrating, Astrid is such a relief as a female protagonist and the secondary characters are realistic and well fleshed out.
In the end I would actually recommend this book to people, especially fans of sci-fi and particularly middle-school children. It's like a modern, sci-fi version of Lord of the Flies only cooler and there's no Piggy.
No, the reason I couldn't keep reading it was because I wasn't enjoying it. The reason I wasn't enjoying it was rather stupid but since everyone over the age of 15 is gone, I was kind of frustrated because there was only one girl and boy actually taking care of a small number of babies. The rest were just being abandoned in their cars/houses or whatever and I couldn't get absorbed in the storytelling while I was mentally yelling at the kids to go rescue the babies!
Stupid, I know. Pathetic? Yeah, I'm WELL aware of it, but that's just the way it is.
Also, because I'm kind of an authoritarian/leader type person, I was thinking of everything they SHOULD be doing and how they SHOULD be organizing and kind of frustrated that Sam was being so wimpy about taking charge. But, he's fourteen, I know he deserves slack but yeah...
SO go read it, please! My inability to finish this book had nothing to do with the writing and was all about me being irrational and crazy!
It's not because the concept was stupid - actually the concept was quite interesting and would make for a fantastic philosophical discussion.
It's not because it was poorly written - actually it was written quite well with a great plot and interesting world building and action packed scenes.
It's not because the characters were horrible or annoying - Actually, Sam is really likable if not frustrating, Astrid is such a relief as a female protagonist and the secondary characters are realistic and well fleshed out.
In the end I would actually recommend this book to people, especially fans of sci-fi and particularly middle-school children. It's like a modern, sci-fi version of Lord of the Flies only cooler and there's no Piggy.
No, the reason I couldn't keep reading it was because I wasn't enjoying it. The reason I wasn't enjoying it was rather stupid but since everyone over the age of 15 is gone, I was kind of frustrated because there was only one girl and boy actually taking care of a small number of babies. The rest were just being abandoned in their cars/houses or whatever and I couldn't get absorbed in the storytelling while I was mentally yelling at the kids to go rescue the babies!
Stupid, I know. Pathetic? Yeah, I'm WELL aware of it, but that's just the way it is.
Also, because I'm kind of an authoritarian/leader type person, I was thinking of everything they SHOULD be doing and how they SHOULD be organizing and kind of frustrated that Sam was being so wimpy about taking charge. But, he's fourteen, I know he deserves slack but yeah...
SO go read it, please! My inability to finish this book had nothing to do with the writing and was all about me being irrational and crazy!
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Reading Progress
| 06/02/2010 | page 32 |
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5.73% | "I'm really freaking out. Who's going to take care of the little babies! *Cue panic attack*" |
| 06/03/2010 | page 100 |
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17.92% | "This book is really stressful for me to read because I keep stressing about all the babies in the houses and cars starving to death! My son would be one of them!" |
| 06/03/2010 | page 106 |
|
19.0% | "I think I might officially give up on this book. It's so frustrating." 3 comments |
Comments (showing 1-29 of 29) (29 new)
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Tammy
(new)
01 giu. 17:40
Looks good, Kat -- howcome there aren't adult books out there like this one?
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Nothing is wrong actually - it's well written with interesting characters and all, it's just really not my thing. I recommend it for other people who aren't going to spend the whole book freaking out about the babies and toddlers starving to death in their homes and carseats. I know it sounds stupid but I just can't enjoy the book when I'm stressing about fictional infants. By all means, try it out - you'll probably love it!
i really enjoyed it, but have to admit that i never picked up any of the other books in the series--so when all is said and done, i guess i wasn't that blown away.
i think it was partly because i read stephen king's under the dome around the same time, and i found the ending to that one extremely disappointing... i enjoyed the drama and excitement of the kids having to figure out how to survive, but i didn't really care about why the barrier was there.
i think it was partly because i read stephen king's under the dome around the same time, and i found the ending to that one extremely disappointing... i enjoyed the drama and excitement of the kids having to figure out how to survive, but i didn't really care about why the barrier was there.
Yeah, I can't say I'm particularly desperate to see what happens. It's a cool concept but... it's just not for me! Glad to know I'm not missing out on much!
I thought Gone was fun read, but I couldn't get through the sequel to save my life. Maybe it should have been shorter? I don't know. Just couldn't get into it at all. I agree with a lot of your comments on Gone, however, looking back.
This book broke my heart over and over for just that reason. Every time some poor baby cried for her mommy I was shriveling a bit inside.
I tried reading this book and I stopped for the same reason you did. I just... What. Go get the children! Agh!
First thing I thought of was all the babies left in the houses. It is such a bleak portrayal of human nature. I really thought there would be more good people and less bullies in the world of FAYZ
That was freaking frustrating. I mean, I get that they're just kids, but couldn't they at least be more organize. Their lack of concern for stuck babies and toddlers both annoyed and disturbed me.An episode of Young Justice (DC comics show) had an episode with the adults disappearing. But, you know what? The older kids got themselves organized and got small children out of harm's way before they really freaked out.
But, yeah...I'll stop ranting.
haha. I was considering reading this until I read your review, but especially now that you've mentioned it, I KNOW the same thing would drive me crazy. I don't think I could focus on anything else if there were babies that needed rescuing, and the book didn't address it with all due urgency.
Well, if you kept reading, you would find they came up with a daycare place to keep the younger kids, with a person in charge of them, and they make the daycare top priority with food and stuff.
I was considering reading this as well, but I think them leaving the babies would bug the crap out of me too. :/
I totally agree...I couldnt finish it...ALl I could think about was all the young kids and babies suffering and I just said forget it...I have a five year old son and even the thought scares me to death....
Thank goodness for Mary taking care of the babies. I got a kick out of Albert taking over McD's, but there was the mom side of me saying...what about fruits and vegetables?! I did want the kids to be more responsible, but I was surprised that they were doing as well as they were. I hope they make a plan and plant gardens and such.
Totally wouldn't cope with them not rescuing all the babies ... I'm adopted! ... Thanks for the warning Kat!
Totally wouldn't cope with them not rescuing all the babies ... I'm adopted! ... Thanks for the warning Kat!
Its been a while since ive read gone but i thought they did rescue the babies, i clearly remeber sam getting control of the fayz then he and adilio and others organized parties to go look for small children stuck in homes, and they entered a house where there was like a dead rotting baby. but yes i was just like yoy when i was reading. i kept screaming at the kids to be better people and pull themselves together. and one of the first thoughts i had when ppl dissapeared was what would happen to the babies. but i really like the series for its grusomeness, i thought it made it more realistic and sad, i guess that wad what attracted me to the series. but honestly when i was reading gone i thought it was ok but very ling and dragging, but im glad i stuck with series because it has gotten so much better. its now one if my fav series. definitely nit for people so are weak or cant stand violence or cruelty or sadness or unfairness. but i enjoyed those things it made it more realistic.
These were my feelings exactly!!!! I have a soft spot for babies....if anything bad happens to babies in a book it makes me like it a whole lot less and my friend who loves the series told me it will get worse from the second book on and i just can't subject myself to any more sadness.
I definitely understand what you mean. I like to feel a sense of control, even when reading and it would make me too anxious to know that there are babies not being cared for. It may sound stupid because it's "fiction", but hey, we're human.
Soo true, I felt the same way, the first few pages of the book I was wondering "why aren't they worried instantly about the babies and toddlers!" since i have three young siblings that's all i could think of. im choosing to finish this book so that i would have a peace of mind for now lol but im refusing to the read the next books, I can't believe it's a 5-series long book, it's really straining to the mental concept and spirit of a sci-fi series, the writer could have done a lot more to ease the tension in timing rather than worrying the reader too much lol just a little worry, but not the point where children end up holding guns at the age of 9 ready for battle.
