Coushatta LaRue

Book Review: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

“I never really thought about how when I look at the moon, it’s the same moon as Shakespeare and Marie Antoinette and George Washington and Cleopatra looked at.”

I actually bought the third book in this series first and realized quickly it wasn’t book one. To be honest, I also thought this was going to be a book about zombies! I didn’t read the synopsis beforehand; I just glimpsed the genre, saw the cover, and thought, “Oh, zombies!” But nope, I was very wrong. Instead, it is about an asteroid hitting the moon and knocking it off its axis.

This novel is written in a style I have never encountered before. It takes the form of a diary kept by the main character, Miranda, and it honestly works so well. Of course, it is a very well-written diary that is incredibly thorough with its descriptions. It might not be exactly how a real teenager writes in a regular diary, though I guess some people really are that expressive. Still, I found this format to be deeply interesting, and it made the story flow so much easier. I was absolutely flying through the pages and finished the whole thing in just three days.

When we first meet Miranda, she is dealing with the news that her dad is having a baby with his new girlfriend. It is a glimpse into a simple, average life, and the story slowly builds toward the moment the asteroid strikes. I initially thought the book would open right with the impact, but giving us a few days of normality first was a great choice. It really helps you connect with Miranda and her siblings before everything changes.

At the start, Miranda is a bit of an entitled brat who cares about silly things that aren’t actually important. But to her, they are the world, and you can see that clearly in her writing. Once the asteroid hits, however, things spiral out of control fast. We are talking earthquakes, tsunamis, and even volcanic eruptions.

The family quickly heads to the store to stock up on food, and I think this was a great twist for a dystopian book. In a lot of other survival stories, the characters waste time refusing to believe how bad things can get, which lands them in sticky situations. But Miranda’s mother bolts into action immediately and secures a ton of supplies.

There were times, though, that the mother really bothered me. I understand that she was incredibly stressed out and trying to keep everyone alive, and I know Miranda could be entitled. But sometimes I felt like the mother exploded on Miranda for no good reason, and it felt completely unfair. There were moments I wanted to shake the mother for how mean she was being to her daughter. I get that Miranda could be very immature and naive, but the mother’s overreactions really annoyed me.

There was also one specific part of the book that really disturbed me and actually hurt to read. It happens when Miranda is talking to her friend Sammi, and Sammi mentions she is leaving town with a guy who is about forty years old. I had to stop and think, wait a minute, aren’t you only sixteen? It made my skin crawl because it was just so gross. No matter how bad the end of the world got, my parents would never, ever allow me to go off with some older stranger like that, because we all know what a person like that actually wants. It is just an evil person looking to do evil deeds to a kid.

What bothered me almost as much was how little Miranda reacted to it. It felt like she just brushed it off as no big deal. Now, maybe it was because the world was ending and she was already starting to feel numb and emotionless about everything, but it honestly should have bothered her more. I really would have liked to see her express some real concern for her friend, or at least think about how icky the situation was, rather than just letting it pass by.

“I wonder if I’ll ever have to decide which is worse, life as we’re living or no life at all.”

Fortunately, we get to see Miranda grow up quickly throughout the book. She struggles with her inner selfishness but figures things out as the stakes get higher, which I really appreciated. Sometimes YA books can totally overdo the annoying teenager trope, but Miranda is forced to mature because the world is falling into utter chaos. You really feel for her on every page, and her diary entries pull at your heartstrings. She just wants her normal life back, yet things only seem to get worse.

I understand that this novel isn’t exactly scientifically correct. There is no way a small asteroid would throw the moon off its course like that, and some of the other plot points, like the super-flu going around, felt a bit far-fetched. But I easily forgive the novel for this because it is fiction, and in fiction, anything can happen. It wasn’t too hard to suspend my disbelief. As long as you can look past the science, it is a fantastic story. Sometimes the pacing settles and nothing is happening at all, but then all of a sudden, everything hits at once and you are on the edge of your seat wanting to know more.

“Here’s the funny thing about the world coming to an end. Once it gets going, it doesn’t seem to stop.”

As far as apocalypse books go, this one is easily one of my favorites. I never thought a book about the moon moving could be so entertaining. You are always worried about what will happen next to this family, and you honestly end up feeling just as isolated and alone as they do. The book completely pulls you into their chaotic, lonely world and makes you feel every single emotion, from the heavy sadness to the small, fleeting moments of happiness. It truly captures your attention and helps you picture every scene perfectly.

I definitely think anyone interested in end-of-the-world novels should pick this one up! It is a quick read, very easy to get through, well-written, and a fun, wild apocalyptic ride.

My rating is 5/5!

Find my book Souille here!

“Souille is a riveting novella that artfully blends elements of horror and science fiction to craft a high-stakes adventure that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. When Natalie’s life is thrown into chaos after a terrible hurricane leaves her hometown in ruins, she’s thrust into a deadly face-off against strange and malicious entities in her desperate struggle for survival.”