Reviews with content warning for Death - The Dead and the Gone

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The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

11 reviews

evelynnnn33333's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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the_hannah_kay's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It was hard to get through this book. I really enjoyed the first book of this series. However, I hated the main character of this book for over half of it, only a tiny redemption that made me push through. The main character is the only thing keeping me from giving this book a higher rating. If you can withstand him, the background story is good.

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britt93414's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

Very slow to start. Lots of religion mentioned. Not as good as the first book but still captivating as a part of this universe.

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czoltak's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This dystopian trilogy still has some of the best world building in the genre I have ever read. I know they’re intended as middle grade books, but the content is grotesque at times and the plausibility of the stories are overwhelming. I had a hard time putting this book down.

The Dead and the Gone tells the story of a different experience than Miranda and her family in the first book of the trilogy. This family is in New York City and their suffering is different. The characters are all lovable and flawed in their own ways, and the breakdown of society is generous. It is still horrifying.

Horrifying, and engrossing. I absolutely recommend The Dead and the Gone as well as Life as We Knew It to any readers who are interested in dystopian novels. It’s not post-apocalyptic, but it is startlingly realistic-feeling. It will make you think. It will make you feel. And those books are the best.

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authorannafaundez's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

So far, The Dead and the Gone is my favorite of the Life as We Knew It series. It was marketed as a companion book, but I feel it surpasses the original story Pfeffer wrote. Remember when I compared Life as We Knew It to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road? I take it back; this book is much more similar—but still for a younger audience.

The Dead and the Gone features the same premise as Life as We Knew It, but there are some big changes that have a powerful pull: the setting is New York City, a place which suffers immediate, direct, and deadly consequences after the moon disaster. Your narrator is still a teenager—Alex, a boy this time. However, he suddenly finds himself alone with two younger sisters to care for. Alex is constantly pitted against morality versus survival. What is he willing to do to survive in a city ravaged by tragedy with no help coming? The stakes in The Dead and the Gone are much, much higher.

Religion comes back full force in The Dead and the Gone. This time, it’s devout Catholicism. It fits into the story pretty well as Alex and his family are all of Puerto Rican descent. (The majority of Puerto Rico identifies as Catholic.) While religion of any type isn’t necessary to wrestle with morality, I do think Catholicism was a good choice to frame the story from. The three characters we see the most in The Dead and the Gone are each Catholic, but one is extremely devout, one is somewhere in the middle, and one struggles with their faith. (You can find out who’s who if you read the book!) The good framework comes from the dependencies and concessions Alex is shown to have with the church, confession, and education. Science versus religion isn’t really a problem in this book.

There are, of course, some plot points that I wish had been better formed. One point was why Alex didn’t break into more homes—because he does enter other people’s deserted homes to search for food, blankets, and items to trade. After months, Alex knows with something very close to certainty that he and his sisters are alone in their apartment building. Yes, yes, stealing is wrong, and that does come up, but possible starvation should overrule the fear of being found out when 90% of New York City has already been looted for the food sources it may be hiding.

Another was the fact a few schools stayed open under the pretense of education when it was really to feed the few kids left some lunch. I’m not saying this was a bad thing, but in a major United States city that’s been flooded, has no power, and millions of people living in it with no food trucks coming in and a single, weekly government handout that is unreliable and dangerous to be in line for—how do these two little schools find the resources to feed twenty or so kids lunch every day for months? Are adults starving so the children can eat? I’d believe it, but the answer the book gives us was no less than an unsatisfactory, “The church provides” or “God provides.” Annoying explanation, to be frank. Not actually an explanation at all.

That said, The Dead and the Gone still functions as a great book. It’s heart-wrenching, and can be scary, and, fantastical apocalypse aside, quite realistic in its portrayal of a broken humanity.

There’s two more books in this series, and I’m very curious about where Pfeffer plans to go next. Personally, I’m hoping for a continuation of events as the first two books quite thoroughly covered the immediate consequences of the moon disaster. Fingers crossed! Next up: This World We Live In.

~ Anna

Read the more great reviews on my blog!
https://annafaundez.com/blog/

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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is the second book in the Last Survivors series, but it follows a new character. In this installment we follow Alex Morales, a young high schooler who is trying his best to take care of his younger sisters with no help from his parents. After the asteroid hit the moon, Alex could not track down his parents, and his older brother was away in the military. With no one else around and able to help out, Alex became the "man of the house", and he devoted all his time and energy ensuring his sisters will survive this new world.
I was a little taken aback when I started this book because Alex is a completely new, unrelated character in a completely different state from Miranda. Once I got over the initial shock, I was excited to read about how the moon affected a different geographic area. Alex lives in New York City, so it was interesting to read about the politics regarding what happened in a city, versus Miranda's small town in Pennsylvania. Politics and classism play a much bigger role in this book, and it is infuriating but great commentary about how the rich are inherently privileged, even in dire circumstances. Alex and his family are also deeply religious, so it was again interesting to read how Catholics reacted to such a detrimental event.
Alex overall is a kind of difficult character to love. He has good intentions, and he is doing "what he thinks is right", but a lot of his choices come across as questionable. For example, he sent one of his sisters to a convent because she would have a better chance there than trying to survive with them. He is also so tough on the youngest sister. He took a much darker path to survival in comparison to Miranda, and, at times, it was difficult to read.
Overall, I enjoyed this book less than the first, but I am still excited to read on and finish the series.

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