The Great Big One

by J.C. Geiger

With natural disasters and nuclear war threatening their small town, two twin brothers find themselves enraptured by mysterious music that could change the course of their lives.  Everyone in Clade City knows their days are numbered. The Great Cascadia Earthquake will destroy their hometown and reshape the entire West Coast—if they survive long enough to see it. Nuclear war is increasingly likely. Wildfires. Or another pandemic. To Griff, the daily forecast feels partly cloudy with a chance of apocalyptic horsemen. Griff’s brother, Leo, and the Lost Coast Preppers claim to be ready. They’ve got a radio station. Luminous underwater monitors. A sweet bunker, and an unsettling plan for “disaster-ready rodents.” But Griff’s more concerned about what he can do before the end times. He’d like to play in a band, for one. Hopefully with Charity Simms. Her singing could make the whole world stop. When Griff, Leo, and Charity stumble upon a mysterious late-night broadcast, one song changes everything. It’s the best band they’ve ever heard—on a radio signal even the Preppers can’t trace. They vow to find the music, but aren’t prepared for where their search will take them. Or for what they’ll risk, when survival means finding the one thing you cannot live without.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Adventure

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2021

Reviews

[Teapocalypse]

I was sold from the premise inside of the book jacket, but was disappointed that this book didn’t follow through with its own marketing. I went in wanting a mystery about a radio broadcast, and instead got a weird twins, manic pixie dream girl love triangle with vivid descriptions of.. ear kissing.

[Mackenzie Larochelle]

Found at Dollar Tree, very worth it! It kept me interested and was just weird enough that I still followed what was happening.

[ava weber]

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[♡paige♡]

dnf

[Sandi]

Thought I would like this book given its musical theme, content- and structure-wise (Parts 1, 2, and 3 mimic a song as "overture," "andante" and "scherzo.") Unfortunately, it fell far short of its potential. As young adult novel, it included much more content than a young adult should be exposed to and much of it felt gratuitous (profanity, sexual content, deception/disobedience of parents). Also had a forced "racism" element near the end of the book, incoherent with the storyline and major themes the author was developing, making it feel like an afterthought/PC thing to do. Gave it two stars instead of one as I felt the creative potential was there.

[Cambrie]

This book was incredibly unique, I had no idea where it was going, found it in a random bookstore a while ago. Idk

[Michele]

This book is coming out July 13! I recommend! Teens living in a seaside community, prepping for the disaster that will take out their town. Might be a tsunami, might be a nuclear strike, who knows. There’s a girl and twin brothers so that’s a recipe for 💥
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And what’s that strange music? Where is it coming from? How can they find it? Will they ever hear it again? The quest begins!
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I loved this YA book hell bent on adventure and figuring out who you are. Also steadfast friendships ❤️
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Will be buying for my MS/HS library!

[nitya]

shaking i really do have a type in books you just need to talk about siblings. this is a book about family and grief and music and love and teenagehood and belonging. the writing style IS pretty weird and it did put me off in the beginning but it warmed up to me and the book went on.

theres a section that goes
‘“as much as the music, i want to hear the crowd again.” thomas looked at him. he might’ve been crying. “we’ll make it out of here, griff. i promise.”’
and i think that pretty much spells out why i enjoyed this so much<3

[Nandemo]

Set in this world, but not quite. As immersive as a fantasy - full of magic both dark and light.

[Ryan]

The Great Big One is an adventure novel for a group of Doomsday preppers. Twins, Leo and Griff, and their father knows that a possible tsunami is coming to flood Clade City, so they always work on ways to warn the townsfolk whenever the possibility comes. One of the things they do is help operate their local radio station, designed to give a heads up for the impending doom. But one day, a new girl Charity arrives, and it becomes both brothers are both interested in her. Griff is tired of taking orders from his dominant brother, that he tries to find ways to earn Charity's affections. But one day the trio stumble upon a mysterious song, that develops into an obsession as they believe it can help with their work.

The interesting premise is what hooked me in to read The Great Big One, but I also note that the writing structure is a little different than from what I usually read. In which, the sentences tend to be short and quick, but makes the main story somewhat confusing to follow along. By that, I meant there were moments where it felt like there was jump cuts going on in the wording, so I felt like I was shifting back and forth on what was happening. I also felt like the story was split into two sections: the first half was focusing on the rivalry with Charity and the second was getting to the actual origins of the mystery music. It did feel like a lot of plot points were going on at first. But that might just be me. I did get more energized when it came to seeking out the radio signal origins, and the characters are relatable even with the book's style. It's intriguing and different from what I'm use to, I'll say that, though I wouldn't hesitate to read the J.C. Geiger's other works from my experience with this book.

[MissLisbeth]

In The Great Big One, we meet a group of high school doomsday preppers, whose interest in music attracts a new student to their group of friends. The main characters, a pair of twins, as well as the new student (a girl who cares about music but isn’t a prepper), find themselves in a strained relationship as they struggle to balance their prepper meetings with their interest in surfing the Skip, looking for music up and down the AM radio dial at night. Midway through the story tragedy visits and, for the remaining friends, pain puts a pause on the progress of life. Eventually, though, the music they’ve heard on the Skip proves to be a siren song they can’t ignore, drawing them out of their small coastal town to the desert for an otherworldly experience that neither they nor the readers are likely to forget soon. Ultimately, the music is the beacon that pulls the friends back together and pushes them to figure out who they want to be. Although the characters and setting are wildly different from the experience of my own landlocked, urban students, I suspect the character’s search for themselves and the music will be a strong appeal.

Overall, I enjoyed this title. The start was a little slow, but picked up around halfway through. I think the writing could be mildly challenging, as there is lots of abrupt transition and written out sounds that might be off-putting to some readers. It's not my favorite style, but it wasn't so much that I didn't want to keep reading.

[Olivia]

THE GREAT BIG ONE is a story about two brothers, their life of doomsday prepping, music, and a girl. Leo and Griff are twins and live in a coastal town that always worries about disaster, particularly if a tsunami were to hit. They like music and rock, and when they meet a new girl, Charity, who also likes music, they decide to start a band. Both are pulled to Charity, and this creates new tensions. During it all, they are trying to find the patterns in life and watch out for disaster.

This was a tough book for me to connect with. I had to reread the first several chapters a few times to figure out what was going on, as it is mostly told in dialogue, which can leave a lot out. The characters already know what's going on, but it takes a while for the reader to catch up. The synopsis on the back of the book helped to set the stage, but I really needed more explanations and emotions shared on the page to really connect with it and not feel so lost. I made it through and still feel like I have too many questions about what and why.

Overall, I would recommend for people who like to go with the flow and not take a deep dive into characters. There were some interesting connections between the brothers, and I appreciated that plus the snippets of prepping that we see throughout.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

[Kate]

Griff and his twin brother Leo spend most of their time coming up with ways to warn people about an impending tsunami, until Charity comes to town. Griff's never been the one to lead, so even though he feels a special connection with Charity, he lets Leo take over. As the group becomes increasingly obsessed with finding the origin of mysterious music they discover on the radio, tragedy strikes. But maybe it will lead to something great.

While I found the writing style to be quite lovely and lyrical, I had a harder time following the thread of story and understanding what was going on. I had the sense that this was a pre-apocalyptic world, where the end is imminent, but not so imminent that people are panicking - but it could just be that Griff's family and close friends are simply doomsday preppers. Leo's storyline feels a bit disconnected, and I feel almost like this story could have happened without him at all, but I did feel that the connection between Leo and Griff was important. The musical themes were great - I just keep coming back to what did the lighthouse have to do with any of it? Why was The Band so secretive? I think I needed more about how the world got to this strange place to fully get it.

[Oliver]

Have you ever struggled with feeling like there is not enough time to do all that you want to do? The main character, Griff, in the book The Great Big One by J. C. Geiger struggles with similar feelings as he tries to follow his dreams while constantly being reminded of all the disasters that could potentially happen, which range from another pandemic, a tsunami, to his brother dating the girl he likes. I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this book. If you enjoy reading about characters and the relationships between them this would be a good book, but the story does not make sense with the setting and the writing was very hard to follow.

The book follows twin brothers Leo and Griff in their hometown of Clade City. Growing up around people who are constantly preparing for the worst, they are used to feeling like the world could end at any minute. The two are constantly in competition to be better than the other, usually with Leo being the winner. Griff has learned not to let Leo know what he wants because he knows Leo will swoop in and take it. Currently, what he wants is to be in a band with a girl named Charity. The tensions between the brothers rise when they start a band with Charity and one of their other friends, Thomas. One night, the four of them hear strange music while listening to the radio, and it becomes their mission to figure out who is making this music, and how they can listen to it again.

While the premise of the book was promising, there were many issues involving this book. This was written as realistic fiction, but was hard to understand how this story fit into our world. It came out this year, but it was unclear when this book was set. The pandemic is briefly mentioned, but it is treated as a minor inconvenience that did not affect the characters much and feels more like an afterthought than something that actually affected the world they are in. Another big issue was that the writing style was often hard to follow. During the climax, it was extremely difficult to understand what was going on. Events that happened during the climax did not make sense for the setting and were very difficult to follow because of this. This made it quite difficult to enjoy the book.

The book was not all bad. I enjoyed the realistic sibling dynamic between Leo and Griff. Very often, books show unrealistically good relationships between siblings, but this book showed conflict between them. I also enjoyed how developed the characters were. The characters very clearly changed and grew throughout the story. This happened even with characters that were no longer in the story. There were still things being revealed about them that changed the reader’s perception of them.

This book could have been very good, but ultimately the poorly written climax and the issues with the setting distract from the well written characters, and I would generally not recommend this book to read unless your main focus when reading is the characters. In the future, if you are looking for a book that captures the fear of running out of time that so many people struggle with, there are better options out there.

[Kelly Peay]

I pushed through this book, forcing myself to complete it only because I was questioning everything. So many plot holes! Or maybe I didn’t read carefully. I didn’t understand the whole town’s predilection for disaster. When Griff,Thomas, and Charity lie to leave town, and are then pulled over, I didn’t understand what right the police had to do this. The author cites an Oregon penal code, and I did look it up-giving an officer false information-but this is a lie between parents and their children-a sneaking off to go see a concert-not a police offense!

I also didn’t understand the secrecy of the Death Valley community that is juxtaposed to Clade City. But in both settings there is paranoia-whether it is doomsday or being discovered.

The author use a lot of short choppy sentences throughout his writing. Even though music is important, the light house for the characters, it is disaster and the illusions to along with radio waves that infiltrate the writing.

Really, I did not get the premise of this book.

[Karen Johnson]

spoilers, sort of.
Okay book but maybe a work in progress that got published.
I did like that semi-scientists were portrayed as sort of normal, and I appreciated some of the scientific information. There were lots of music and metaphysical references (somewhat connected).
The characters don't seem entirely realistic, and I like Griff way more than his twin brother, who seems like a figure abuser to me. Plus, Charity seems to be playing both brothers.
At least it was different than anything I've ever read before.

[Cheryl]

I wasn't aware of J.C.'s novels until I met him at a book signing recently, where I bought this book. It's a fascinating adventure and exploration of how music moves us, through the eyes of the characters. His descriptions of the Oregon Coast, the sneaker waves, the threats of tsunamis, and the culture of a small coastal town are spot-on. The description of the musical world the teens entered in the desert was magical and surreal. I also loved the rebellious nature of these teens, who were brave enough to pursue and achieve their goals.

[Jillian]

A stunning, immersive story about family, friends, grief, music, dangerous nature, wild quests, and the different ways a world can end. This book impressed me from the start with its lyrical language and realistic relationships, especially how it captured the tense history between two brothers. Then it knocked the wind right out of me and gradually stitched the world back together. Powerfully and beautifully done.

[Carly]

I picked this one up because it was an Oregon Book Award nominee, and the cover is absolutely stunning! I found the doomsday preppers and all of their adventures on the perfect side of campy, and enjoyed their journey through the book! I did struggle a little bit with the characterization, especially for Chastity. But overall, this was a fun read and I recommend to YA and adventure lovers, and those who live on the west coast!

[Gabrielle Schwabauer]

Incredibly weird, incredibly teenaged. Bonus points for mention of my favorite band for the first time ever in the wild. This book is definitely not for everyone, but I think the author was deliberately trying to capture how it feels to be seventeen, to have this limitless potential but also feel entirely bounded by the expectations of others. When music and your two friends are the realest things in the world.

Was it GOOD? I don't even know. It was surely interesting.

[Jess Hall Salmon]

The first 2/3 of the book I would give 5 stars. I loved the vibe! The climax was very interesting bordering on "um...what?" and took a turn that I didnt expect. But I liked the characters so it was enjoyable.

[Maisie Iven]

I think this book had a lot going for it—solid writing, an interest premise, a good setting. But boy did I not care about the characters 80% of the time. I totally get why so many folks are rating it so highly, just not for me

[Miranda]

The first half was good, and then the writing became very scattered and difficult to follow. There wasn't a lot of explanation of what was going on and why they were "stuck" in their town. A lot of "whys" were left unanswered as they moved through the story.

[Ms. Kess]

In a fictional West Coast town populated by "preppers" a trio of young idealistic adventurists seeks a mystery band that may be the answer to their survival.

Fans of music will be drawn to the multi-layered characters and the motley band of friends.

[Lexy]

I love how the book shows the relationship between people and how one small or major thing can change that for good or bad. I like that Griff thinks he has to be like his brother because that's what everyone expects him to be but through out the book we see him change to be himself.

[Anna Boyd]

Fantastic imagery, relatable, and bitter-sweet.

[Crowinator]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

[Robert]

Great writing, intriguing story. A fun read. But I am prejudiced.

[Elizabeth]

I just wasn't able to get into this book at all. It felt like there was a lot of things happening, and I didn't care about any of them. I think maybe the writing style had something to do with that.

[Izzys_Internet_Bookshelf]

1/5

Throughout the book I was confused. With thriller books it is either I’m scared by it and need to DNF or in most cases, I’m bored and unfazed by the horror aspect.