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A review by lazygal
The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
4.0
Not a dystopia, but a rather realistic look at what could happen if a virulent virus strikes - just think of the hysteria surrounding MRSA, SARS, the H1N1 virus, etc.. The unrealistic part is that this is set on an island just off Canada, and thus easy to quarantine.
Kaelyn is a typical teen, except that she's living on a small island (one of the Summer People/Year-Rounders type of island). Her peers aren't quite sure what to make of her, as she's recently returned from several years in Toronto, but that's good because she can be a "new Kaelyn". Something has happened to her friendship with Leo and she starts an epistolary journal to try to mend that rift, but when the virus strikes it becomes a log of what's going on on the island.
It was interesting that the Canadian authorities' response to the problem is to quarantine the island, allowing no one on or off. Predictably there's a Lord of the Flies group of boys that start to take/steal the food and supplies, and just as predictably there's a group that tries to keep things running smoothly. Kaelyn's family is affected, in that her mother dies of the virus, her brother disappears to the mainland, her father is the doctor trying to help and she herself gets sick. While most of her reactions to what's going on seem real, I did expect a little more fear and anger, particularly at the government's decision to virtually abandon the island.
That this is the start to a series is problematic for me (I know, that's my Big Bugaboo), because without it this could be a great read for science and ethics classes.
ARC provided by publisher.
Kaelyn is a typical teen, except that she's living on a small island (one of the Summer People/Year-Rounders type of island). Her peers aren't quite sure what to make of her, as she's recently returned from several years in Toronto, but that's good because she can be a "new Kaelyn". Something has happened to her friendship with Leo and she starts an epistolary journal to try to mend that rift, but when the virus strikes it becomes a log of what's going on on the island.
It was interesting that the Canadian authorities' response to the problem is to quarantine the island, allowing no one on or off. Predictably there's a Lord of the Flies group of boys that start to take/steal the food and supplies, and just as predictably there's a group that tries to keep things running smoothly. Kaelyn's family is affected, in that her mother dies of the virus, her brother disappears to the mainland, her father is the doctor trying to help and she herself gets sick. While most of her reactions to what's going on seem real, I did expect a little more fear and anger, particularly at the government's decision to virtually abandon the island.
That this is the start to a series is problematic for me (I know, that's my Big Bugaboo), because without it this could be a great read for science and ethics classes.
ARC provided by publisher.