We watched as the world came to an end in Life As We Knew It, but the moon tragedy didn't just affect Pennsylvania. It reached the entire country. In New York City, Alex is alone. He is now responsible for his two teenaged sisters, and he has no way of knowing if his parents are among the living anymore. His life is now making sure that they can eat, and he begins trying things he never would have considered before to keep his family alive. In the end, he has the church and his Catholic school, but he is not sure how long they will last. Hoping his prayers are sufficient, Alex suffers tragedy as he tries to become the man of the family.
This is a retelling of sorts, of the events in Life As We Knew It. This time, it is in third-person POV, following Alex, and set in NYC. It was more of a companion novel. First off, I really liked Alex's POV. He was stronger, and more responsible. He made a terrific main character, though his story was more of a tearjerker.
The story kept me enthralled, for sure. I wanted to keep reading straight through, but alas, I had to sleep. Alex had a lot of good opportunities that Miranda, from the other book, never did, but he suffered more tragedy I think. There was one part of the story where I had to slap my hand over my mouth in horror! Still, he was one of the lucky ones.
The only thing I didn't like about the book was how Alex really never registered all the weird things around him. The author would just mention an event almost in passing, like "Oh and the snow was gray instead of white. Proly cuz all that volcano stuff." I'm being dramatic, but it seems Alex didn't really stop to consider the significance of any changes. I guess it's understandable, he was mostly concerned about food.
Time seemed to pass more quickly for Alex as well. He wasn't stranded in the house, didn't really have to worry about freezing to death, and had electricity at least one day a week. Like I said, he had it pretty good. I didn't get that "end of the world" feeling that I got from the other book.
Standing alone, if I would shut my mouth and stop comparing the stories, the book was great. I really liked it (as far as comparisons go, maybe more than the other). I don't have any really strong opinions about the book, but it made me think. I enjoyed that. I hear there is another, and will definitely seek it out!
4/5
Shay-la
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