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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
More like 3.5. The ending left something to be desired, but overall a good read.
In this alternate history middle grade/young adult novel, it's 1962 and the US is in the middle of the Cold War; tensions are high and war is on the verge of breaking out. Unlike the reality of things, bombs do go off in the United States and what we're left with is an account of two or so weeks following the detonation.
While the level of difficulty and simplicity of the language used places this book in the 5th or 6th grade range -lower for more advanced readers- the content itself is such that I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone younger than a 7th or 8th grader. It's not graphic or gratuitous but it does bring up or discuss heavy topics in some cases and realistic topics (that some parents might shy away from letting their children read) in others. Mentions of Playboy, giving wine to minors, death and the ever-present fear of war are all in this novel and while it's hard for me, personally, to be offended by them, I can see how some would try to shield their children from it. Really, though, Strasser handles it all in such a way as to make you feel as though you've been transported back into more innocent times.
My biggest gripe with the book was the almost too-optimistic, definitely abrupt-feeling ending. This book could have easily been given a bit more emotional weight and a slightly darker ending and it would have been a 4 or 5.
While the level of difficulty and simplicity of the language used places this book in the 5th or 6th grade range -lower for more advanced readers- the content itself is such that I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone younger than a 7th or 8th grader. It's not graphic or gratuitous but it does bring up or discuss heavy topics in some cases and realistic topics (that some parents might shy away from letting their children read) in others. Mentions of Playboy, giving wine to minors, death and the ever-present fear of war are all in this novel and while it's hard for me, personally, to be offended by them, I can see how some would try to shield their children from it. Really, though, Strasser handles it all in such a way as to make you feel as though you've been transported back into more innocent times.
My biggest gripe with the book was the almost too-optimistic, definitely abrupt-feeling ending. This book could have easily been given a bit more emotional weight and a slightly darker ending and it would have been a 4 or 5.
Overall: 3
Characters: 4
Plot: 3
Story: 3
Writing: 4
Setting: 4
Enjoyment: 3
*The depiction of the entire experience (preparing for the attack and then being stuck in a shelter for days with a bunch of people that are resentful of each other) was well-written and the tension was gripping but the end was not as dark and gruesome as I was expecting--nothing bad happened after the beginning, the rest of the story is a drawn-out resolution.
Characters: 4
Plot: 3
Story: 3
Writing: 4
Setting: 4
Enjoyment: 3
*The depiction of the entire experience (preparing for the attack and then being stuck in a shelter for days with a bunch of people that are resentful of each other) was well-written and the tension was gripping but the end was not as dark and gruesome as I was expecting--nothing bad happened after the beginning, the rest of the story is a drawn-out resolution.
Very quick read that commands attention because of the subject at hand.
Taking place during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the story follows how the MC's father has built a bomb shelter for four, yet ends up with ten when disaster strikes. Low on food, resources, and with depression sinking in, the ten people must work together and survive or, ultimately, die.
Very heartwarming, and what I would call a typical middle-grade novel, had it not been for the rich history behind the story. That being said, it was definitely a book that you should pick up and take a peek at if you have time and are interested in historical happenings. Only took me about an hour to finish.
Taking place during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the story follows how the MC's father has built a bomb shelter for four, yet ends up with ten when disaster strikes. Low on food, resources, and with depression sinking in, the ten people must work together and survive or, ultimately, die.
Very heartwarming, and what I would call a typical middle-grade novel, had it not been for the rich history behind the story. That being said, it was definitely a book that you should pick up and take a peek at if you have time and are interested in historical happenings. Only took me about an hour to finish.
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence
An interesting read, but I didn't care for the format and the lack of fully developed characters. The ending also left something to be desired. I did, however, appreciate the central idea of history having a very different outcome.
3+ stars.
Fast and suitably uncomfortable read. The back and forth in time structure that frequently annoys me in books was very effective in this, contrasting "before" problems with "after" (or really, during) problems.
Fast and suitably uncomfortable read. The back and forth in time structure that frequently annoys me in books was very effective in this, contrasting "before" problems with "after" (or really, during) problems.
I like picking up Young Adult titles sometimes, and this was one I enjoyed reading this year. Most of the novel takes place in a Fallout shelter after the bomb is dropped following an alternative imagining of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis gone wrong. I think it did a great job of outlining the human dimensions of struggling to survive amid great challenge and fear.
I’m conflicted on this book. On the one hand, I generally enjoyed it? I think? I mean, I started it at like 9:30 on a work night after finishing my previous book and finished it at midnight the same night, so it definitely kept me turning pages.
That said, I also think the book could’ve been so, so much better.
The gist of the plot is: the Cuban Missile Crisis goes hot (note: this is NOT an alt-history of any sort so don’t expect any detail on how that all goes down or anything; the point is simply that it’s early-60’s American and the nearest big city to our cast gets nuked). The one guy in the neighborhood who had the foresight to build a fallout shelter in his backyard orders his family in as the sirens go off. The neighbors, who know about the shelter but did nothing but make fun of the family for being paranoid, bum rush his place and, after a struggle, some of them make it into the shelter with the main family.
The bulk of the story, then, is about how these people get on when forced to live in a dubiously-supplied shelter, particularly given that half of them forced their way in against the will of the guy who built it.
It’s a very small-scale story that focuses on the various pair-relationships between shelter inhabitants. Backgrounds on those relationships are provided via flashback chapters quite often, showing how those folks interacted prior to the bombs going off.
The story does best when focusing on the protagonist, Scott. He’s a nearly-teenaged boy, the son of the shelter-builder, who I identified quite a bit with. He’s a “good kid”, but his best “friend”, who ends up in the shelter as well, is quite not, and keeps trying to lead him astray. These tensions amp up in the shelter, naturally, and the author handles this relationship in particular with a deft hand. It reads honestly as a relationship that could’ve existed in reality.
Scott’s father is portrayed with a kind hand as well. He reads like a lot of dads I’ve known (though not my own): he means well, but lacks some of the tools, particularly in the empathy category, to be a truly-good dad. And a lot of his mistakes are effectively made against his own will and correct instinct, driven by societal pressure instead. After the bombs go off, the dude is in a truly shit situation, and he handles it (and this is a beef I have with the book in general) just about as well as anybody could. I’m not sure if this character is believable in extremis, but his pre-war characterization reads pretty true.
Some of the “bad” characters, however, are pretty ham-handed. Bad Kid’s father, in particular, is almost a caricature of an effete, college professor liberal of the nascent go-go 60’s, letting his kid drink wine at dinner until he’s hammered, leaving Playboys about, and sneering at his less-refined neighbors construction of a shelter in the first place. The guy sucks, in an almost unbelievable way.
Likewise, the women characters are pretty thin, the black housekeeper particularly so. They serve largely as props for the men to act against, even though they’re often the smartest people in the room.
My prime beef with the book is that it’s somehow too optimistic. I don’t think this scenario would or even could play out as neatly as it does; even given the death and conflict involved, it’s… not enough, somehow, given the enormity of the catastrophe that has obviously occurred to the world. I don’t want to spoil how it all plays out, but I ended the book with a pretty heavy sense of “well, that could’ve been much worse”.
Lastly, I want to mention that the book miserably fails the test of Chekhov’s Gun, which is always infuriating.
So, I dunno… I chewed through the book fast, it’s a page-turner, but I think I was turning pages mostly waiting for the other shoe to drop, which it effectively doesn’t. I also enjoyed the writing of the lead character enough to be invested in his fate, at least, if not of many of the others. If you like explorations of how people forced into extreme close-contact scenarios will behave, you’d probably enjoy Fallout, just know that it certainly lies on the optimistic side of the genre. Even though New York gets nuked.
That said, I also think the book could’ve been so, so much better.
The gist of the plot is: the Cuban Missile Crisis goes hot (note: this is NOT an alt-history of any sort so don’t expect any detail on how that all goes down or anything; the point is simply that it’s early-60’s American and the nearest big city to our cast gets nuked). The one guy in the neighborhood who had the foresight to build a fallout shelter in his backyard orders his family in as the sirens go off. The neighbors, who know about the shelter but did nothing but make fun of the family for being paranoid, bum rush his place and, after a struggle, some of them make it into the shelter with the main family.
The bulk of the story, then, is about how these people get on when forced to live in a dubiously-supplied shelter, particularly given that half of them forced their way in against the will of the guy who built it.
It’s a very small-scale story that focuses on the various pair-relationships between shelter inhabitants. Backgrounds on those relationships are provided via flashback chapters quite often, showing how those folks interacted prior to the bombs going off.
The story does best when focusing on the protagonist, Scott. He’s a nearly-teenaged boy, the son of the shelter-builder, who I identified quite a bit with. He’s a “good kid”, but his best “friend”, who ends up in the shelter as well, is quite not, and keeps trying to lead him astray. These tensions amp up in the shelter, naturally, and the author handles this relationship in particular with a deft hand. It reads honestly as a relationship that could’ve existed in reality.
Scott’s father is portrayed with a kind hand as well. He reads like a lot of dads I’ve known (though not my own): he means well, but lacks some of the tools, particularly in the empathy category, to be a truly-good dad. And a lot of his mistakes are effectively made against his own will and correct instinct, driven by societal pressure instead. After the bombs go off, the dude is in a truly shit situation, and he handles it (and this is a beef I have with the book in general) just about as well as anybody could. I’m not sure if this character is believable in extremis, but his pre-war characterization reads pretty true.
Some of the “bad” characters, however, are pretty ham-handed. Bad Kid’s father, in particular, is almost a caricature of an effete, college professor liberal of the nascent go-go 60’s, letting his kid drink wine at dinner until he’s hammered, leaving Playboys about, and sneering at his less-refined neighbors construction of a shelter in the first place. The guy sucks, in an almost unbelievable way.
Likewise, the women characters are pretty thin, the black housekeeper particularly so. They serve largely as props for the men to act against, even though they’re often the smartest people in the room.
My prime beef with the book is that it’s somehow too optimistic. I don’t think this scenario would or even could play out as neatly as it does; even given the death and conflict involved, it’s… not enough, somehow, given the enormity of the catastrophe that has obviously occurred to the world. I don’t want to spoil how it all plays out, but I ended the book with a pretty heavy sense of “well, that could’ve been much worse”.
Lastly, I want to mention that the book miserably fails the test of Chekhov’s Gun, which is always infuriating.
So, I dunno… I chewed through the book fast, it’s a page-turner, but I think I was turning pages mostly waiting for the other shoe to drop, which it effectively doesn’t. I also enjoyed the writing of the lead character enough to be invested in his fate, at least, if not of many of the others. If you like explorations of how people forced into extreme close-contact scenarios will behave, you’d probably enjoy Fallout, just know that it certainly lies on the optimistic side of the genre. Even though New York gets nuked.