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popthebutterfly 's review for:
Life As We Knew It
by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Rating: 4/5
Genre: YA Dystopian
Recommended Age: 14+ (some sexual references, tiny gore, realistic ways on how the world will collapse).
Pages: 337
Author Website
Amazon Link
I usually have a hard time getting into books when I first start them. Call it my rebellious nature taking control or just that I hate starting over at page one even if it’s a different book. But that was not the case with this book. This book was, in short, absolutely everything I want in a dystopian novel. The world building and realistic circumstances of this possible event made me legitimately scared for the future and heavily invested in Laura’s life. The format was told in diary format, so I was invested in learning about what happened to Laura and her family from day to day. I found that while told through diary format all of the characters were fairly well developed and the plot was intriguing. The pacing was also well done and the story kept me interested throughout the whole of the book.
The only issues I found with this book were the sexist comments and that I’m not receiving much information outside of the family’s town. This book, while wonderfully well written, is really sexist. I thought for sure the book would make some big show in the end about how all of these comments are untrue, but it really didn’t. The character grew and became stronger, but the comments weren’t ever mentioned again. Usually I don’t have issue with these comments if they’re within a historical setting, but this book takes place at least in the 2000s and by then I’m pretty sure women had sufficiently proved themselves to be just as strong as men.
Verdict: Avoiding all the sexist comments, this book is a terrific read for any dystopian reader! I’m not immediately heading to my local grocery store to stockpile food and water before an asteroid crashes into the moon.
Genre: YA Dystopian
Recommended Age: 14+ (some sexual references, tiny gore, realistic ways on how the world will collapse).
Pages: 337
Author Website
Amazon Link
I usually have a hard time getting into books when I first start them. Call it my rebellious nature taking control or just that I hate starting over at page one even if it’s a different book. But that was not the case with this book. This book was, in short, absolutely everything I want in a dystopian novel. The world building and realistic circumstances of this possible event made me legitimately scared for the future and heavily invested in Laura’s life. The format was told in diary format, so I was invested in learning about what happened to Laura and her family from day to day. I found that while told through diary format all of the characters were fairly well developed and the plot was intriguing. The pacing was also well done and the story kept me interested throughout the whole of the book.
The only issues I found with this book were the sexist comments and that I’m not receiving much information outside of the family’s town. This book, while wonderfully well written, is really sexist. I thought for sure the book would make some big show in the end about how all of these comments are untrue, but it really didn’t. The character grew and became stronger, but the comments weren’t ever mentioned again. Usually I don’t have issue with these comments if they’re within a historical setting, but this book takes place at least in the 2000s and by then I’m pretty sure women had sufficiently proved themselves to be just as strong as men.
Verdict: Avoiding all the sexist comments, this book is a terrific read for any dystopian reader! I’m not immediately heading to my local grocery store to stockpile food and water before an asteroid crashes into the moon.