The Last Survivors Series - This World We Live In By Susan Pfeffer / Book 3
Rating;
Pub. Date: April 2010 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: Hardcover, 239 pages Age Range
Synopsis - It’s been a year since a meteor collided with the moon, catastrophically altering the earth’s climate. For Miranda Evans, life as she knew it no longer exists. Her friends and neighbors are dead, the landscape is frozen, and food is increasingly scarce. The struggle to survive intensifies when Miranda’s father and stepmother arrive with a baby and three strangers in tow. One of the newcomers is Alex Morales, and as Miranda’s complicated feelings for him turn to love, his plans for his future thwart their relationship. Then a devastating tornado hits the town of Howell
My Thoughts - I have seen a few reviews of this book which were on the mixed side. Being a great fan of this series I was planning on buying the third instalment soon. I was browsing around the Library today and just by chance spotted it, now it's not a big book so I could have easily missed it but I got lucky. Boy am I glad.
The story comes full circle back to Miranda and her family; they are still alive yes, eating, yes, but just about. Rations are becoming even scarce and not everyone is holding each other down as they did in the first book. It's nearly been a year since disaster struck and it's easy to hear the grief and sadness in their voices, they have lost many people and it's become clear only the youngest, best in shape with the most determination survive.
One thing this series never fails to do is suck you in it's horrific world, the whole time I was reading this book I no longer felt safe. When Miranda trudged along and found those bodies of her head teacher and class mates it hit me really hard, the fact that she knew these people made it almost to personal for me also.
Matt has become much more selfish in my opinion, before he was at least more hands on and protective of his family, now he only seems to care about his needs. This was proven to me when he selfishly happened to bring some random girl by the name of Syl, not only had he just met the girl but he had decided to marry her. He failed to notice in this case, although he did every time someone else came to stay, that they are just barely surviving and to bring some stranger because of your stupid ridden hormones was just idiotic to me.
He hardly knew her, however I can see it from his POV to, the world is ending, who knows how long he has left to live, here is this pretty girl so different from everyone else, she is desperate like him, it seems perfect to him. I guess he wants to be in love in his last days, she needs food and shelter, the perfect compromise. What annoyed me was not only his insensitivity but how he had chosen her over his mother and sister. The very mother and sister who saved his life.
Then comes the father, the father that left them when they needed him most for some girl, then stupidly enough impregnated her just when the world is about to end, gave them some pity food and went on their way and never looked back.
So, how do I feel when the father returns to his ex wife and children whom he ditched because he found no luck anywhere else? I was furious! I wanted to smack that man, how dare he return after abandoning his family and then expect them to give a damn about his wife and child. Do I sound harsh? I don't care.
I admire Miranda's mother for not complaining once and being there for him even though he didn't deserve her support. With him he brought others and expected his ex wife to feed them to. The fact that Alex and Julie were favourites of mine from the previous book might have softened me up a bit. I can basically rant about flaws within characters all day long, but again and again one thought pops up.
Life as we knew it is over, are flaws not allowed?
Jon , Miranda's younger brother and Julie , Alex younger sister immediately hit it of, they seem to share this innocence where even under such horrible circumstances they can open their hearts to genuinely wanting a friend, to have the will to care for another's feelings when everything seems so lost.
I found it remarkable, unlike everyone else's last minute relationship theirs did not seems fake but very genuine. You can't help but envy them for it, their naivety is a gift. Two others that connect are Alex and Miranda, the hardest thing with Romance at this point of time is that it is almost impossible to tell if it is real. Everyone wants to live their last days to the fullest in times such as theirs no one is really interested in being committed and getting to know each other, "feel a spark = your in love." This wouldn't be your average situation and it might not make any sense at all but right now it's the closest thing to perfect your going to get.
I have no spec of doubt when I say, in the near future there will be books that deal with a similar subject but no one will ever quite be able to carry it like Susan did. When I finished and put down the book I noticed this big blast of orange outside, I was already filled with all this emotion and so when I moved the curtain aside and stuck my head out i saw this Sunset. I hadn't noticed a sunset in so long, but now i marvelled at it's beauty as well as Nature and life that I take for granted, that we all take for granted. I must have stood there watching the sunset fade for ten minutes but the sadness didn't fade. When a book impacts you in such a way that it makes you appreciate not only others, but life, that's when you know. You have a very special book on your hands.
My story is told, let someone else tell the next.
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