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A review by celia_thebookishhufflepuff
The Shade of the Moon by Susan Beth Pfeffer
3.0
Like many readers, I didn't think this book holds a candle to the other three.
[b:The Shade of the Moon|17165913|The Shade of the Moon (Last Survivors, #4)|Susan Beth Pfeffer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356671271l/17165913._SX50_.jpg|23592700] follows Miranda's brother Jon as he makes a l0t of bad decisions in this new world. Set three years after the last events of [b:This World We Live In|6393972|This World We Live In (Last Survivors, #3)|Susan Beth Pfeffer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442881735l/6393972._SY75_.jpg|6582550], this follows Jon as his family as they get to relative safety.
This book follows a lot more of the breaking status quo science fiction, which was something I enjoyed about the other three; that they were very matter-of-fact - this is life now type of stories. This wasn't the case in [b:The Shade of the Moon|17165913|The Shade of the Moon (Last Survivors, #4)|Susan Beth Pfeffer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356671271l/17165913._SX50_.jpg|23592700], and it lost some of what made the series so good.
On top of that, Jon turns out to be a major asshole for most of the book. Every character does, and it's hard to tell who's on what side. But not in a good way. I feel like if this had been the first book in a series instead of the last, I would have liked it more. It just seemed like all that growth in the last three books was for nothing.
Most of the book didn't center around Miranda or Alex, but once it got back to them as important characters, it started to get a lot better. I liked part 3 a lot more than parts 1 or 2. But most of the book was pretty terrible.
I don't know if I would ever reread this series, and if I do, if I would skip this book. I had to see it through to the end, and I'm glad I did. But it also really didn't need to be written.
I did enjoy the author's note about the series at the end. I love the process of series, and this one is especially interesting because of the real-ness of the characters and the research that would have had to go into the situation. I enjoyed this series a lot, even if the last book didn't match the first three.
[b:The Shade of the Moon|17165913|The Shade of the Moon (Last Survivors, #4)|Susan Beth Pfeffer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356671271l/17165913._SX50_.jpg|23592700] follows Miranda's brother Jon as he makes a l0t of bad decisions in this new world. Set three years after the last events of [b:This World We Live In|6393972|This World We Live In (Last Survivors, #3)|Susan Beth Pfeffer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442881735l/6393972._SY75_.jpg|6582550], this follows Jon as his family as they get to relative safety.
This book follows a lot more of the breaking status quo science fiction, which was something I enjoyed about the other three; that they were very matter-of-fact - this is life now type of stories. This wasn't the case in [b:The Shade of the Moon|17165913|The Shade of the Moon (Last Survivors, #4)|Susan Beth Pfeffer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356671271l/17165913._SX50_.jpg|23592700], and it lost some of what made the series so good.
On top of that, Jon turns out to be a major asshole for most of the book. Every character does, and it's hard to tell who's on what side. But not in a good way. I feel like if this had been the first book in a series instead of the last, I would have liked it more. It just seemed like all that growth in the last three books was for nothing.
Most of the book didn't center around Miranda or Alex, but once it got back to them as important characters, it started to get a lot better. I liked part 3 a lot more than parts 1 or 2. But most of the book was pretty terrible.
I don't know if I would ever reread this series, and if I do, if I would skip this book. I had to see it through to the end, and I'm glad I did. But it also really didn't need to be written.
I did enjoy the author's note about the series at the end. I love the process of series, and this one is especially interesting because of the real-ness of the characters and the research that would have had to go into the situation. I enjoyed this series a lot, even if the last book didn't match the first three.