Book Review : Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Published : October 1st, 2006

Publisher : HMH Books for Young Readers

Pages : 337

Genres : SciFi, Post Apocalyptic, YA

Blurb from Goodreads :
Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sun room, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

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                                                               Review Time!

Fantastic Book! We read this novel as a diary, written by Miranda as she ventures through her hard journeys into the inevitable.

It starts off with a perfectly normal day at school, where a normal 16 year old teenage girl, worries about everything teens worry about in high school. I mean Prom, her best friends growing distant from each other, exams and her mother not letting her do what she wants to do. And then one day, on the news, an asteroid is announced to hit the moon. Everyone is celebrating, and they go out to watch it with snacks to eat out on chairs. Then, the worst thing happens. The thing no one expected to happen. The asteroid has hit the moon closer to Earth, therefore, changing Earth's climate. Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes erupting. Everything happens. And, by "Everything", I mean everything negative. Now they have to find a way to survive. Yet, even though everything around her is going bad, she is, indeed, barely(not barely, that's exaggerating)surviving with her loved ones.

The way Susan writes Miranda's point of view is incredible. It is flawless. You can clearly feel what Miranda is feeling even through her short, but descriptive diary entries. You can feel her frustrations, her sorrow for her little brother(and her family members), and even her strong love for her family.

Since this novel is told from Miranda's PoV, you could only see the characters as how Miranda sees them through her entries. You don't really know much about the other supporting characters, because Miranda is describing them, therefore leading to you, only knowing the characters by her thoughts about them. However, the relationship with her family members, are clearly written out with details. You could easily tell how much she loves her two brothers and mother, yet hating them at the same time.

Again, I like reading Life as we knew it from Miranda's PoV. It was very interesting. Overall, I very much like this book a lot! The one thing I loved most was when the asteroid had hit the moon, it took only a matter of a few seconds before the panic set into everyone's minds. But, as Susan is writing Miranda's diary entries, it is incredibly descriptive that her writing makes it feel like Miranda and her family is surviving the after-effects for years and years after.(Although, clearly, it's not.) I totally loved this book!

The only thing I didn't like was that we didn't know any much about the other characters(friends of Miranda's)than what Miranda knows. I would've liked to learn more about them, I feel they add some sort of depth to the story even though, they're not really important and they just paint the plot(background).

Overall, I very enjoyed this book! I gave it a 4/5 stars. It was fantastic. The plot was amazing. The writing was awesome. Everything about it was awesome. I haven't read a book like this with such an interesting fast paced, yet it feels slow paced, storyline.

Quotes :

"Miranda, I want you to know how proud of you I am. "

"I love her but I could throttle her."

 Click "Read More >> " for a short excerpt of this amazing book!

Life as we knew it
May 7

     Lisa is Pregnant. 
     Dad called around 11 o'clock to let us know. Only Mom had already taken Jonny to his baseball practice and of course Matt isn't home from college yet, so I was alone to get the big news.
     "The baby is due in December," Dad crowed, like he was the first guy in the history of the world with a younger second wife about to have a baby. "Isn't that great! You're going to have a little brother or sister. Of course it's too soon to tell what it's going to be, but as soon as we know, we'll tell you. I wouldn't mind another daughter myself. The first one I had turned out so wonderfully. How'd you like a baby sister?"
     I had no idea. "When did you find out?" I asked.
     "Yesterday afternoon," Dad said. "I would have called you right away, but, well, we celebrated, You can understand that, can't you, honey? A little private time for Lisa and me before letting the world know."
     "Of course, Daddy," I said. "Has Lisa told her family?"
     "First thing this morning," he replied. "Her parents are thrilled. Their first grandchild. They're coming for a couple of weeks in July, before you and Jonny visit."
     "Are you going to call Matt and call him?" I asked. "Or do you want me to?"
     "Oh no, I'll call," Dad said. "He's busy studying for his finals. He'll be glad for the interruption."
     "It's great news, Dad," I said, because I knew I was supposed to. "Be sure to tell Lisa how happy I am for her. And you, too. For both of you."
     "You tell her yourself," Dad said. "Here she is."
     Dad muffled the phone for a second so he could whisper something to Lisa and then she took the phone. "Miranda," she said. "Isn't it exciting!"
     "Very," I said. "It's wonderful news. I'm really happy for you and Dad."
     "I was thinking," she said. "Well, I know it's way too soon and I haven't even discussed this with your father yet, but would you like to be the baby's godmother? You don't have to answer right away, but do think about it, all right?"
     That's the problem I have with Lisa. Whenever I want to get mad at her, or just irritated because she can be immensely irritating, she does and goes something nice. And then I can understand why Daddy married her.