Review Detail

Reader reviewed by sariebearie08

I have heard a lot about this series from other bloggers, and I was
eager to get me hands on a copy of gone.  Overall, I enjoyed the book.
The plot was extremely exciting and the storyline was well developed. 
The book begins with and is centered around, for the most part, Sam
Temple. Once the blink happens, it is Sam who kind of gets everyone
calmed down and safe. Sams sort of a local hero and everyone looks to
him, which he is completely uncomfortable with. I love the character of
Sam; hes humble and unsure of himself, which makes him a great hero.
From here, the story progresses quickly; which is great, especially
with a 500+ page book.



While Sam is obliviously the main character, there are a lot of
secondary characters. This posed a problem, at least for me, because at
some point in the time, the novel changes to each of their
perspectives. There is Sam, who you read most of the novel through, but
then there is also Astrid the genius, Sams friends Quinn and Edilio,
Lana, Albert, Mary, Cookie and Dahra. Then, there are the bad guys -
Caine, Diana, Howard, Orc, Computer Jack and Drake.  I am sure there
are more peppered throughout the book, but I cant remember them all.
Thats a lot of different perspectives to read through. I understand
that the author wants the reader to see the whole picture, but we are
constantly changing perspectives and when the story is intense it can
get annoying.  I found myself just wanting to stay with Sam and Astrid,
but the story kept taking me elsewhere.



Also, this book dealt with some pretty gruesome mental images. I did
not really bother me, but it is a book about children under 14. So I am
going to assume a lot of readers will be under 14 and without spoiling
too much, there are lots of dead bodies (including a baby in a garbage
bag) and lots of icky bone breaks and just overall nasty injuries. 
Just wanted to  warn everyone!



But, honestly, the perspective thing is the only gripe I have with this
book. I thought all the characters were well written, and I quickly
rallied around Sam, Astrid, Edilio and Little Petey. I was, and still
am rather skeptical about Quinn, but I think that is to be expected.
There are plenty of twists and turns throughout the book and it
certainly keeps you on your toes. I would highly recommend this book!