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tonisalvatore 's review for:
Away
by Megan E. Freeman
Man, I'm actually disappointed. I was really looking forward to this one, but it just wasn't at the same level as Alone. I think Freeman tried to do too much by having 4 different characters narrate this one with entirely different styles. I think it took away from the actual pacing of the book. I felt like this was almost a skeleton of a book-- an outline of what the author wanted to occur. The events all felt like a really rushed "and now this is happening!" The narrators were WAY too advanced to be middle schoolers, too.
I also felt like the brief mentions of Maddie were sort of thrown in there to be a wink at the reader. It definitely wasn't a major part of the story, which was an odd choice for me. Maddie presents so many questions in Alone about the "imminent threat" and the awareness her parents might have about her being left behind. I was really hoping to see that realization dawn on them in the text of Away. Instead, it was just a "Apparently Maddie has been missing for 3 years! Uh oh." I actually heard myself say "really?!" out loud. I was also let down by the inconsistency of Maddie not seeing even a hint of a single soul outside of looters one (1) time for THREE (3!) YEARS in Alone, even when she ventures out to a neighboring town, but apparently there's a whole slew of children left behind who have formed an underground network across multiple cities??
Finally, I really couldn't suspend disbelief for a lot of the plot. I could see people leaving in a panic if the National Guard is personally knocking on doors. I could even see them willingly giving up their cell phones without much complaint if it was framed as some nebulous national security threat. I found it hard to believe Grandin's dad was the only obstinate person who refused to leave, but at gun point? Okay, sure. I can roll with it. It's a children's book.
I just couldn't get past people being obedient and compliant for that long with only vague explanations and non-answers from officials. They framed this whole thing as a possible terrorist threat. They made up this whole story about a deadly toxin being dispersed in Colorado. And then when someone is like "okay but what are the feds doing????" the governor has the nerve to be like "HOW DARE YOU! WE CAN HANDLE THIS OURSELVES." Uh. It doesn't work like that! What the fuck! Where is the president?! Honestly, the most unbelievable thing is nobody knowing this is happening either. A few thousand people from a small area of Colorado will definitely have a few thousand relatives living in different parts of the US. You're telling me nobody is wondering why the hell their family member suddenly fell off the face of the earth? Nobody is wondering why that part of Colorado is unreachable? Nobody is demanding that the FBI step in to provide clarity? This bare minimum warrants a natural disaster response from DC.
I may have taken this a little too seriously haha
I also felt like the brief mentions of Maddie were sort of thrown in there to be a wink at the reader. It definitely wasn't a major part of the story, which was an odd choice for me. Maddie presents so many questions in Alone about the "imminent threat" and the awareness her parents might have about her being left behind. I was really hoping to see that realization dawn on them in the text of Away. Instead, it was just a "Apparently Maddie has been missing for 3 years! Uh oh." I actually heard myself say "really?!" out loud. I was also let down by the inconsistency of Maddie not seeing even a hint of a single soul outside of looters one (1) time for THREE (3!) YEARS in Alone, even when she ventures out to a neighboring town, but apparently there's a whole slew of children left behind who have formed an underground network across multiple cities??
Finally, I really couldn't suspend disbelief for a lot of the plot. I could see people leaving in a panic if the National Guard is personally knocking on doors. I could even see them willingly giving up their cell phones without much complaint if it was framed as some nebulous national security threat. I found it hard to believe Grandin's dad was the only obstinate person who refused to leave, but at gun point? Okay, sure. I can roll with it. It's a children's book.
I just couldn't get past people being obedient and compliant for that long with only vague explanations and non-answers from officials. They framed this whole thing as a possible terrorist threat. They made up this whole story about a deadly toxin being dispersed in Colorado. And then when someone is like "okay but what are the feds doing????" the governor has the nerve to be like "HOW DARE YOU! WE CAN HANDLE THIS OURSELVES." Uh. It doesn't work like that! What the fuck! Where is the president?! Honestly, the most unbelievable thing is nobody knowing this is happening either. A few thousand people from a small area of Colorado will definitely have a few thousand relatives living in different parts of the US. You're telling me nobody is wondering why the hell their family member suddenly fell off the face of the earth? Nobody is wondering why that part of Colorado is unreachable? Nobody is demanding that the FBI step in to provide clarity? This bare minimum warrants a natural disaster response from DC.
I may have taken this a little too seriously haha