Life As We Knew It

Interesting book, but ending leaves me with too many questions. One of the best post-apocalyptic tale I've read in awhile though.

This book makes you think about your own life and how just one little thing can happen and then you never know it could turn out like this book where the world (miranda and her family)are struggling to hang on just all because an asteroid hits the moon.

Many twists and turns in this book and I know for sure that anyone who reads this book will want to read on and on and on. Yes, it has flaws but, it is good.

To sum it all up I personally like this, and I highly recommend. When I think about it though, this is most likely not the type of book everyone is interested in, but give it a chance.

I was totally captivated by this book. Everything that Miranda's family went through seemed feasible in our current world, and I found myself wondering how my family would cope in a similar situation. It was chilling and frightening, because her family doesn't react to their new circumstances like heroes in a story; they react like a regular family.

Miranda was an excellent narrator. Somehow, Susan Beth Pfeffer was able to really crawl inside the mind of a 16-year-old girl. She had the invincibility syndrome that so many teenagers have, convincing herself time and time again that nothing was going to change, that everything would soon return to normal, that things couldn't possibly get any worse. I found myself infuriated with her when she argued against her mother's rationing of their food, or her brother's stockpiling of firewood. I groaned inwardly every time she mentioned that she couldn't imagine how things could get worse, since obviously, they could. But she reacted the way I expect many teenagers would react -- she resisted the magnitude of the situation, and opted instead to focus on whether or not there would still be a prom, or how her favorite figure skater was doing. But my frustrations with her character are actually a testament to the strength of the writing -- I believed I was listening to a 16-year-old.

On the flip side, I loved Miranda's mother. She was level-headed, forward-thinking, and did a marvelous job of looking out for her family. Yes, she made mistakes, had her moments of selfishness, and there were occasions where Miranda's conflicts with her were perfectly justified. But no matter how bad things got, Miranda's mother continued to display the kind of sacrifice and perseverance that I feel exemplifies a parent's love for her child.

I also enjoyed the development of Miranda's brothers, Jonny and Matt, and their neighbor, Mrs. Nesbitt. I came away from the book feeling like I really knew and understood these characters.

As for the progression of the story itself, I found it mostly believable. Miranda's family found themselves situated in the best possible scenario in the case of global disaster: their house had oil heat, a gas stove, a wood-burning stove in a separate room, and well water. Convenient, yes, but not unrealistic -- these houses do exist, after all. There were parts of the story I found far-fetched, such as being able to immediately hop onto the Internet and surf fan sites every time the electricity turned back on for 10 minutes, but those irritations were minor in the grand scheme of things. There was also a bit of propaganda the author wove into the story that I thought felt a bit awkward and out of place, but again, it didn't really lessen my enjoyment of the overall tale.

The way the world slowly crumbled around Miranda and her family seemed disturbingly accurate. Humanity didn't simply plunge into chaos; it descended in increments. Businesses stayed open. Currency still held value. Schools held classes. It was only as the weeks and months progressed that the direness of their situation is truly revealed. I found myself holding my breath as I wondered what could possibly happen next.

Overall, I found this to be a sad yet hopeful look at family, society, and friendship. It was a story of strength, survival and triumph, but also loss and regret. The story progressed in a quiet manner, with very little action or fanfare, and was more pensive than nail-biting. Its strengths were the characters, the relationships, and the incredibly well though-out progression from life as we know it to the world that Miranda's family unwillingly finds themselves in.

Note: While this book does have two sequels, The Dead and the Gone and This World We Live In, I felt the ending was satisfying enough for this to have been a standalone novel. I do intend on reading the sequels, but if they didn't exist, I still would have been satisfied.

Reader reviewed by JulieA.

Life as we knew it is a great book about life on earth suddenly and dramatically changing told through the eyes of a teenager.  A comet that is supposed to creat an amazing light show in the night sky shockingly collides with the earth's moon pushing it dangerously close to the earth.  Gravity is disturbed, so tides change.  Immediately Cape Cod and Manhattan are submerged.  How would you respond to such a catastrophe.  This book is exciting, suspenseful, scary and even a little romantic.  A must read!

Reader reviewed by Samantha

This was a book on my Reading Bowl list. I thought it was going to be sad by what some of the other girls said, but it really wasn't.

If I was asked what my favorite part of this book was, it would have to be the swimming and the ice skating part. I always thought Miranda was more fun there.

It scared me a little though, her bro's names was my bro's name, her BF's name was MY name, it got creppy after a while.

Reader reviewed by mearley

Miranda and her family are trying to survive after a giant asteroid affects the moon's gravitational pull. Through Miranda's diary, we see how her family struggles from day to day, making sure there's enough food, medicine, fuel, etc. just to live. It really does make you think about what you would do--what you'd be willing to do--to make sure you and your family survived even when so many other people were dying.

I had this book for a long time before I read it. I'm guilty of judging a book by it's cover. The cover shown here looks fine, but the version I have (Scholastic school edition) shows a pink dresser with various hair accessories and art supplies and figure skating pictures. The cover seems to appeal to "tweenage" girly-girls, and I thought I wouldn't be interested. It's too bad the cover is so misleading, because it really is a challenging story about moving beyond childish, selfish needs and instead making serious, grown-up decisions.

Reprinted here with the author's permission.

Reader reviewed by Dominique

I loved this book. I had to keep reading the next page to see what they'd do or how they'd survive.

The only part I didn't like is that it's written as a diary entry. It ruined it for me. When it seemed like she was about to die, I'd remember "Hang on, she has to be alive to write a diary entry".