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 but in third person from the vantage point of a working class Catholic teenage boy in New York City. Her characters are ones I really cared about and her stories are so vivid and realistic.

This one was even grimmer than the other book.

It also had a somewhat open ending. I’d like to know what happens in the future to each of the families and it would also be interesting to have a book from the point of view of brand new characters as well.

This author is remarkable and I wish these books had been out when I was a young adult. She’s got a real knack of writing for those who are 12 & up.

The books also had a sobering effect on me; this one solidified my belief that I would not be one of the survivors, given my level of internal strength and especially considering that I’d be lacking extra support from the outside that these characters had. It’s a very thought provoking read. And even though I knew her formula somewhat from reading the other book, the suspense was enormous.