From the Archive: Gone by Michael Grant (5/5)

Okay so I read about this book on Goodreads one day and just loved the sound of it. Then when I saw the coloured page edges I had to have it! I immediately reserved at Waterstone's (as that's cheaper if you didn't know) and bought it the next day. I couldn't stop looking at it but eventually started reading it and I loved it! Michael Grant's Gone series/The Fayz whatever you want to call it is one of the best YA series out there and I don't see a lot of other blogs or Twitter friends talking about it so hopefully some of you will pick it up soon because I love it!

Read and reviewed in April 2013.

In the blink of an eye, everyone in Perdido Beach, California, over the age of thirteen disappears. Gone too are phones, television, and the internet. As the kids struggle to survive in this new world, the world itself continues to evolve. A sinister creature lurks in a mine in the desert; animals are mutating; and some of the kids are developing dangerous supernatural powers that grow stronger by the day. A battle between good and evil is imminent, and for some of the kids, time is running out. On their fifteenth birthday, they disappear like everyone else. The first novel in Michael Grant's Gone series is an action-packed thrill ride that will leave readers hungry for more. Don't miss the series that Stephen King calls "exciting, high-tension."

 
I haven't enjoyed reading a book as much as this for a long time. I did not want to put it down. I told as many people as possible about it while I was reading it and went out and bought the next two in the series so I can start them ASAP. I just hope the rest of the series is as good as this, although I do wonder what will happen over the next five books. Five! I am so excited.

Before reading I read a few reviews, and a lot of the negative reviews seemed to focus on the fact that the boys seemed to be the heroes, or the strong characters. And that the girls were arm candy, or 'cute' and didn't really have much about them. Well what I say to that is it's about time we had a series of YA books where it isn't all about how amazing girls are and how much better than boys they are and how girls don't need boys and all that rubbish. I think female readers will enjoy this book but it's not worth critising it when there are plenty of YA books which make girls look fantastic and boys look weak. And the girls in this book aren't even weak, they just - to me - aren't as developed as characters compared to the boys but maybe that will change in future books. All I know is I would have loved reading this book when I was younger. However lots of adults are reading YA fiction nowadays and I think that's because it is much more imaginative and enjoyable than some adult fiction books.

The world created here is fantastic. I imagined what it would have been like sitting in class and all the teachers disappearing. Let's just say that the reaction of my school would not have been anything like the reaction here, it would have been mental and the school would have been destroyed within minutes. You could really feel the confusion and upset that the characters felt at being left alone in the world with no idea what was going on. I found all the characters to be very believable, I read a few reviews saying Sam wasn't believable but he was one of my favourite characters in this book.

I don't know whether it was the power plant, the plaza or the FAYZ wall but I could not help but picture Springfield from the Simpsons as Perdido Beach. One of my favourite things about the whole book was a character called Albert and the way he just took over an empty McDonald's and kept it open to feed the people of Perdido Beach. All the talk of food made me hungry and the mentions of bottles of Big Mac sauce, I want a bottle! If something like this happened today everywhere would be destroyed and looted immediately so - even though there was looting here - I don't know how believable it would be that one or two kids would become 'in charge' and the rest would just follow orders. The riots of 2011 were carried out with adults and police in the world, imagine the kids of today with no authority whatsoever.

Overall though this book was fantastic. I absolutely loved it and it is one of the best books I have read for a long time. It really stands out on bookshelves with its coloured pages and I can imagine lots of kids looking at them over other books on the shelves. The US covers are terrible!* I always judge books by their covers (shock horror) and have actually not read books in the past because of it, so luckily the covers for these books are just as good as the writing inside. Kids, teenagers and adults will all enjoy this book, and I can't wait to read the rest of them.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/577632636?book_show_action=false 

* The US covers have just been updated so somebody else obviously got on to how crap they were!