A review by orionmerlin
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

Characters: 5/10
Miranda is a decent protagonist, but that’s about where the praise ends. Her mom is your classic “tough but caring” survivalist, her brothers are just kind of...there, and her friends are walking tropes. Megan’s religious transformation is so over-the-top that it feels like the author wrote “zealot” on a sticky note and called it a day. Sammi exists purely to contrast with Megan, and neither of them feels like a real person. The emotional connections are weak, and I couldn’t bring myself to care much about anyone except maybe Miranda’s cat.
Atmosphere/Setting: 7/10
The apocalyptic world-building is one of the book’s better elements. The slow breakdown of society, the food shortages, the endless winter—it all feels believable and genuinely unsettling. But holy monotony, Batman! If I have to read one more time about dwindling food supplies, I might just start eating my own furniture. The small-scale perspective made everything feel too insular. I get that it’s a diary format, but I wanted to see more of the world collapsing, not just another meal of canned peas.
Writing Style: 5/10
Look, I get that diary formats are supposed to be personal, but this one reads like a series of grocery lists with emotions tacked on. The prose is lifeless, the sentence structures are mind-numbingly simple, and the dialogue feels like something from a 90s educational PSA. Big things are happening—society is imploding—but Miranda’s writing makes it all feel... dull? No sense of urgency, no poetic flair, just a plodding “and then this happened” style.
Plot: 6/10
The premise is fantastic—a meteor knocks the moon closer, and the world spirals into chaos. But after the initial punch, the story slows to a crawl and never recovers. There’s no real sense of escalation—just a gradual, repetitive decline into endless suffering. By the time things actually get dire, I was already desensitized. And then the book just...ends. Abruptly. With barely any resolution. No catharsis, just vibes.
Intrigue: 6/10
The opening had me hooked. The panic, the meteor impact, the world turning upside down—it was tense. But then it settled into the dullest survival routine imaginable. I kept waiting for a big twist, for some shocking development, but instead, I got another entry about stretching food supplies and layering clothes. The diary format kills the suspense—obviously, Miranda survives, so there’s no real tension. The biggest mystery by the end was whether I’d still be awake to finish the book.
Logic/Relationships: 5/10
So, let me get this straight: society collapses overnight, and Miranda’s mom’s first instinct is to hit the grocery store like a doomsday prepper who saw it coming a mile away? The hoarding scene was compelling, but it made no sense why everyone else was still confused while Mom was out here strategizing like she read the script in advance. And don’t get me started on the relationships—flat, predictable, and painfully forced. The mom-daughter dynamic had some emotional weight, but everything else felt like filler.
Enjoyment: 6/10
I won’t lie—I enjoyed the early parts, and the sheer bleakness of the world was effective. But then the story dragged, repeated itself, and forgot to give me a reason to care about anyone besides the cat. The survivalist aspects are interesting, but the lack of character depth and the painfully slow pacing sucked out most of the enjoyment. I wanted to love this, but by the end, I was just relieved it was over.
Final Verdict: 5.7/10
This book could have been phenomenal, but instead, it settles for boring realism over compelling storytelling. The world-building is solid, but the writing is lifeless, the plot is repetitive, and the characters are flatter than a can of expired soup. If you love slow, methodical survival stories with minimal action and don’t mind a lack of emotional depth, go for it. Otherwise, skip this and watch a documentary about the apocalypse instead—it’ll probably be more engaging. 
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