*This book is part of my Dystopia Book Challenge*
I heard of this series a while back and remember not really being all that interested. Everyone above the age of 15 disappears. What could happen with kids 14 and younger? Well, apparently a lot. I’m already on book three of this series.
Gone is the first in this crazy sci-fi/dystopia series by Michael Grant. As stated one day everyone ages 15 and up disappears. Just like that. Poof. Very similar to HBO’s new show, The Leftovers. Although I don’t how it works on that show but in this series things are very strange. For example kids develop (or already had) powers, there’s a “Darkness” lurking around, and there’s a barrier around the town preventing anyone from leaving. Also the phone lines don’t work so they can’t call anyone either. They’re essentially trapped.
The novel follows various characters as they deal with what becomes known as the FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone) but the main protagonist is Sam. “SchoolBus Sam” (as he’s known by many of his classmates because of his heroic actions on a bus after the driver had a heart attack) doesn’t really want any kind of power in the FAYZ and just wants everyone to leave him alone. Unfortunately for Sam he’s a natural born leader and everyone begins looking to him for guidance that truthfully as a 14 year old kid he can’t really give. Plus, Sam’s got his own stuff to worry about as he get’s closer to his 15th birthday also known as the poof point. Oh dear.
I really liked this novel, way more than I thought I would. I liked Sam as a character and felt for him. I also really liked Astrid, Sam’s crush, who’s a cute brainiac that is thrown by the FAYZ. I either loved or loved to hate almost every character in this book which was great. Also, I liked that the book was in third person because we got to see so many different things happen at once. This made things especially interesting when everyone’s stories all come together. It was as if while the characters attempted to figure out the mystery of the FAYZ so was I. It was frustrating and exhilarating.
This book has romance, drama, mystery, adventure, and plot twists to throw you for a serious loop. Definitely a good one to check out.
Favorite Line:
We didn’t make this world we’re just the poor fools who are living in it.
Stars: 5 out of 5. I really enjoyed this book and I’m hooked on this series.
Borrow or Buy: Buy! I’m already wishing I still had it in my possession because I’m only on book three and there’s things I need to remember happened in book one. And there’s a lot of books in this series so it’s sure to get confusing.
Other Reviews:
Zakiya N. Jamal 
Love this series!
This book seems great! One of my good friends says this book is in her favorite series list, and combined with this review, I really want to read it. What’s a Dystopia Book Challenge? Is there a set list to read, or a certain number…?
I’m doing the Dystopia Book Challenge through Bookish Ardour. There’s different levels so I’m doing “Contagion” which is only 15 books but you can choose which one you want to do. I made a blog post about (“Bookish Ardour’s Dystopia Challenge”). The links to the website is there. For some reason I can’t paste the link into this comment. 😦
Oh, okay. Seems like a cool challenge. Haha, links are always tricky. 🙂
Yeah I should’ve just included it in my post. My bad.
Wait until the third book Astrid character changes dramatically then.