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britt93414's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Chronic illness, Suicide, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Violence
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Death, Violence, Gun violence, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual harassment
taliahsbookshelf's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
First things first, as much as I found Miranda annoying in the first book, Alex just seems shallow. You've got a so-called "typical" Puerto Rican-American, and a lot of his character is just based on this. To be honest, I felt like it could have been done really well, but the random Spanish phrases and the once-every-couple-chapters references to it just felt thrown in and not well-researched. There were a lot of times where I thought maybe this is it! Maybe this is the point that Alex grows up and overcomes the gender stereotypes that are pretty easily established at the very beginning of the book. Instead, we see see Alex's character development focused mainly on his sisters. Now, I'm all for character development of non-MCs, but I think when that development means the sacrifice of development for the MC, it isn't as effective as it could have been. Yes, Alex grew. But not in a way that actually helps progress the story, and not in a way that makes it character-driven rather than plot-driven. This is still a decent book, but there's a lot of tokenism that just felt kind of iffy to me. However, it was nice to see this crisis from the view of someone other than Miranda, other than your typical white teenage girl MC (don't get me wrong, I love reading these MCs and won't stop, but having diversity is really important, provided tokenism isn't the only reason for that diversity).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Grief, and Child death
Moderate: Blood and Gore
Minor: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Gun violence, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
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