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iinavarro's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Summary: One day, everyone over the age of 14 disappears suddenly. Set in a small beach town, down the coast from a nuclear power plant (uh-oh), the remaining kids work together to survive, navigate emerging power struggles, and make sense of their new world.
What I liked: Overall, the book is well paced and manages the number of characters expertly. There are upwards of 15 named characters and I was impressed that it was easy to differentiate and keep track of them. The description of action, strategy, and ultimately fighting, was also very well done. There were parts of the story that were so cinematic and engaging, I was reminded a lot of IT and Stranger Things. I love how realistic and dark the story gets; it’s a promising premise that I feel pays off with the characters making increasingly terrifying decisions.
What I wish was better: the character growth and complexity was fairly shallow but this may be the result of having so many of them. I felt like the main character, Sam, was a fairly straightforward, overpowered hero and the antagonist was blandly power hungry. Some of the supporting characters, particularly Lana, Jack, and Howard, were better fleshed out in terms of strengths and weaknesses. That said, I think the setting and circumstances give everyone a lot of room for growth and it’ll be interesting to see how they evolve in future books.
Possible triggers: Ableism, the R-word— this book was written in 2009 so the language surrounding neurodivergence and autism specifically is fairly dated. While it’s certainly believable that the characters would say and think the things they do, I still didn’t feel the autistic character (Little Pete) was portrayed very authentically. His description reminded me more of what people think autism is (doesn’t notice other people, doesn’t show affection, hyper focused on preferences) rather than how they actually behave and respond. I know the public’s understanding of autism has grown exponentially in the last decade, so I can certainly suspend my disbelief, but I do hope this character gets stronger development in future books.
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, and Child death
dustspectre's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Racism
thegr1mreader's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, and Racism
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Racism, and Xenophobia
bealittlebrave's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Excrement and Alcohol
sophiejessica415's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Eating disorder
tbs250's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident
Minor: Cursing, Racism, Vomit, and Alcohol
thesawyerbean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
highcrisis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
katherine applegate: i wonder if we have anything in common? for example, I love writing novels that contain extreme body horror and disturbing settings-
michael grant: omg for 12 year olds?
katherine applegate: omg yes for 12 year olds
content warnings: body horror, dead babies, bulimia, nuclear(?) mutations, gore, animal horror(?), opioid addiction, alcoholism, amputation, mass child graves, car crash
honestly the fact that I went from reading a grimdark adult fantasy to this and the tone barely changed at ALL??
fucked harder than when I read it as a kid. this book really shows you that you don't need to dumb writing down for kids, this shit was hard, the character motivations were great (like, these 14 year olds kids were complex!!), the mystery, the fantasy mystery, the gross body horror!! jeff vandermeer was taking NOTES when he wrote annihilation!
this book is better than most YA and middle grade fiction right now to be quick fucking honest! and also reinforces my opinion that kids books in the 2000s were better because there was no weird american puritanical bullshit insisting they had to insert ~moral learnings~ into the novel every few chapters. like, michael grant wrote a charming, manipulative asshole as the villain in this novel, and it fucking lands!
4.5 rounded up (4 bc it was a bit dicey towards the end, 5 bc it fucking slaps)
anyways book 2 lets go
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Car accident, and Alcohol
amyejones's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Blood, and Car accident
glains's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Gun violence, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia