Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Target Audience: Teens/Young Adults
Genre: Sci-fi/Dystopia


I'd heard raving reviews about this novel for so long and it took me ages to get a copy. It wasn't until I was going bowling in Ashford that I happened to drop by the Waterstones in there, and found it sitting on the shelf. I mean, I was on a 'book buying ban' but it was looking at me, and I couldn't stop myself :-)
Anyway, it does, for the most part, live up to the hype and i found myself eerily entranced reading this as well as horrified in certain instances.
It was so captivating, for example, events would be pretty steady and then some tragedy would suddenly pop out of no-where and make me feel like I'd been kicked in the gut.

But before I go any further i'll give a brief synopsis, just to give you an idea.
Life As We Knew It is set in modern times and the world is about to watch a meteorite crash into the moon, seemingly with no side-effects. Focusing on Miranda and told from her point of view in the form of a journal, this novel describes the events that occur after the moon is knocked closer to earth, and the tragedies that unfold, changing life on earth forever.

The actual blurb on the book is short and too the point, which, is definitely a good thing as it leaves a lot more to the imagination before you read it, which is very important when it comes to the surprise factor.
It isn't just the shock/surprise factor that this book has down to an art, but the author has managed to create a tense environment through Miranda's diary entries. As in the way of a teenager, some of her diary entries are very angst ridden and might seem selfish, but then I remembered that she's living in a changed world and dealing with unusual circumstances.

The only issue I really had with this novel was the lulls in the story. Sometimes, it would seem to drag in parts and certainly some of the entries did tend to ramble a little and maybe it's just me, but I guess I have difficulties with that type of writing style, but it hasn't put me off enough not the read the next in the series, as this is a truly extraordinary novel.
Moving swiftly on, I found the atmosphere truly electric reading this, I could almost picture some of the things as they happened and each and every disaster that occurred made me feel like I'd been kicked, and each death made me feel like my stomach dropped a few inches inside of me.
One disaster in particular really cut me deep and I found myself fighting tears, I won't say what happened, but the worst part was the character was in and out like a yo-yo, yet it still took me by surprise.

I will say that the tension never seemed to break at all whilst reading this, it was terrifying at times, and the fact that this could actually happen is insanely scary.
Anyway, I'll finish this review and say that this is a really really good read. The ending is very well done as well and it gives, not exactly closure, but some sense that things might get better.
Anyway, go read it!