Reviews

This starts out as kind of a Rapture-scenario: People vanish in an instant. In this case, everyone over the age of 14. But as the story develops, it turns out that the effect is localized, not worldwide, and the town of (lovely) Perdido Beach, California, is cut off from the world by an impenetrable barrier. So, really, it's Under the Dome. With kids. With superpowers. Oh, and mutant animals, because why not?

The setup is perhaps a bit overcomplicated, but the author does a nice job of working through the implications of all of this stuff happening at once. There are bullies who take over, only to get displaced by yet-more-evil bullies (we know they're more evil because these are private school bullies from the local boarding school for entitled troublemakers). The bullies soon become full-on comic book villains, complete with imperilment of the heroes' friends and loved ones, scheming and infighting, and the occasional good guy proclaiming that "it's a trap!"

Reluctant hero Sam and smart-girl Astrid take a long time to decide to fight back against the bullies, and they really have a hard time getting anything resembling a win, although they do somewhat pull things together in the climactic bit. Nobody is really all that competent at what they are trying to do, which is part of the point, since they're all just a bunch of middle school kids.

Really, what saves the story are some of the minor characters who mostly stay out of the fighting, but instead work hard to make sure the younger kids are taken care of and that everyone gets fed. I'd read an entire novel about Albert, the kid who, in the midst of the vanishing of all adults and the apparent collapse of civilization, takes it upon himself to keep the town's McDonald's up and running. This guy was the real hero of this story. More Albert, please.

Which we might get, because the book ends with the initial battle over, but without all that much resolved.

Content Warnings

haleyshoard's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was really good! It's filled with action, thrilling moments, and suspense! You won't want to miss this one!

fideliusfred's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

hummingbird52's review against another edition

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1.0

DNF: got about 50 pages in before I had to stop. I don’t usually write reviews, but I have strong enough feelings about this book that I felt the need to.

I was recommended this book by a friend and I eventually decided to read it. The plot sounded interesting enough, but my biggest problem was with the characters. All of them felt two-dimensional, as if the author had given them one personality trait each. I especially disliked how Astrid was written. She is described as being “always right”, which is quite unrealistic for anyone, much less a fourteen-year-old. With that much pressure on her to be perfect, I would imagine that that would have a negative impact on her mental health, but nothing is said about this. In addition, she is described as being, if I’m not mistaken, a middle schooler taking multiple college classes. In order to do this, she would need to skip at least one grade, as you need to be in high school to participate in a dual enrollment program.

Spoiler

Also, at the time when everyone over fourteen disappears, she is described as being in an advanced math class in which the teacher is discussing polynomials. This seems like a quite rudimentary topic for someone taking an incredibly advanced math class. Also, Astrid mentions polynomials to multiple characters and I find it hard to believe that none of them would know what polynomials are, seeing as I would imagine that at least a few eighth-graders would be in Algebra I.

It is possible that I did not read enough to appreciate the book, but I could not bear to read any more than I did.

joolio's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

timefliesaway's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

4.5

There are a few things here and there that bugged me, but overall this book is really good. It gripped me from the first page on and I couldn’t put it down at all; at some point I had to, because of sleep. Finished it the next day, meaning today, right off.

The writing style, holy moly, really is amazing. Even though I don’t like some, or perhaps even half of the characters, I still enjoyed reading it. Everyone seems thought-through and each of them has their flaws as well as their strengths. No one is really perfect or overpowered. Especially not the main protagonist, which is probably the first time I’ve seen this in a book or story in general and I’m loving it.
Well, who knows, maybe sam does become overpowered in the other books, since the protagonists seem to always be the most heroic people ever. Which is annoying. But at least it’s not in the 1st book and whether or not it will happen in the sequels, I’ll have to find out. (Well, Sam did end up a hero in the end (and this is not a spoiler bc it’s a protagonist thing that happens in every storyline), he’s not overpowered, compared to the rest. The powers are pretty balanced. I love it.)

I also loved that this wasn’t horror, at least not the genre. It did have some horror aspects in it, but not like the classic jump scares you always see in movies. Besides, during reading it didn’t really occurred to me that this is horror, only afterwards, when I was trying to sleep. Rip to that, but it’s fine.
So everyone who’s not good with horror can read it just fine, I’m the living proof. And those who do love horror, don’t be disappointed, because the writing style is thriller-like and, like said, there a some moments that are gruesome and brutal and ugly.

~

What bothered me a bit, was the romance. Okay, not just a bit. I don’t like romance generally but the fact that they are all under 15 grosses me out. Like, you’re still a kid that age. I just can’t imagine kids kissing others and saying “I love you” to their bf/gf, when they’re 14 or younger. It’s kinda disgusting.
I know that some are more mature for their age, and especially with the plot of the book (yk, adults disappearing and fights between some groups), it shouldn’t matter that much, but it does, somehow. It’s just weird.
At least the romance wasn’t that much in the front. Sure, there were the moments with the main couple, but from the 540 pages, it wasn’t that much. I could get through these moments, that says a lot.

But, as much as I hate romance and hetero couples, there’s on more thing I hate: “I need you to hide.” - a guy to his girlfriend.
Right. Always playing the big protector over your weak girl. Fuck yourself, you-know-who-guy.

~

Okay. Well, except from the little things that bothered me, I do like the book.
It was a quick read and while it was brutal and ugly a lot of times, I also couldn’t stop reading. Michael Grant really has some writing skills. And i love the idea, although it’s creepy.

And i especially love the fact how realistic it was. For example people needing to go pee, even during a fight (as ridiculous as that sounds, it always seems in action movies that people never have to go to the toilet, which is somewhat super annoying).

vdmerwe_reads's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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