Gone (Gone, #1) - Michael Grant
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Speculative/Dystopian (somewhat)
# of pages: 558 (pb)
Publisher: Harper Collins
Recommended to: 14+
Gone @ Parental Book Reviews
What an awesome premise to a really cool series! Seriously, what would life be like in a society run entirely by youths?
Grant reminds me a lot of Rowling and Riordan in that he successfully handles a large ensemble cast of characters. Not every series has as many crucial characters to the plot as this series. In fact, it's sometimes easier to play it safe with a small bunch of important characters, lest an author creates too many and then has a chaotic time of keeping track of them all. It surprised me how fleshed out and well-rounded everybody was.
That's another point - Grant is a master at creating awesome "villains." Not only were they interesting, they were incredibly dynamic, and truth be told, I enjoyed their scenes! Like, "Woo-hoo, here come the villains!"
So many well-done storytelling areas, too: just the right blend of action, romance, emotional depth, and crucial dialogue parts.
I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. When all the adults just "poof out," what kind of society is left? How can a bunch of kids (who are 14 at the oldest) able to survive? What I thought was cool about Michael Grant's book is the optimistic belief in the maturity of some teens and their strength to "make it." I can't wait to start the second book in the series!
Quick Say: Fans of The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and/or YA devotees in general will not want to miss this fast-paced, thrilling debut to the Gone series. Despite a little implausibility and a bit of story redundancy, Gone was definitely a "hit" with me!
Final Grade:
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Speculative/Dystopian (somewhat)
# of pages: 558 (pb)
Publisher: Harper Collins
Recommended to: 14+
Gone @ Parental Book Reviews
What an awesome premise to a really cool series! Seriously, what would life be like in a society run entirely by youths?
Grant reminds me a lot of Rowling and Riordan in that he successfully handles a large ensemble cast of characters. Not every series has as many crucial characters to the plot as this series. In fact, it's sometimes easier to play it safe with a small bunch of important characters, lest an author creates too many and then has a chaotic time of keeping track of them all. It surprised me how fleshed out and well-rounded everybody was.
That's another point - Grant is a master at creating awesome "villains." Not only were they interesting, they were incredibly dynamic, and truth be told, I enjoyed their scenes! Like, "Woo-hoo, here come the villains!"
So many well-done storytelling areas, too: just the right blend of action, romance, emotional depth, and crucial dialogue parts.
I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. When all the adults just "poof out," what kind of society is left? How can a bunch of kids (who are 14 at the oldest) able to survive? What I thought was cool about Michael Grant's book is the optimistic belief in the maturity of some teens and their strength to "make it." I can't wait to start the second book in the series!
Quick Say: Fans of The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and/or YA devotees in general will not want to miss this fast-paced, thrilling debut to the Gone series. Despite a little implausibility and a bit of story redundancy, Gone was definitely a "hit" with me!
Final Grade:
5 shout-outs!:
Eeep! I'm so glad you loved it! I was hoping you'd like it as much as I did. I was pleasantly surprised that it was great because I often find the hype over-reaches the greatness of the novel, itself. Brilliant review, Amelia :)
Great review as always :) I haven't read this one yet, but will put this on hold at the library today :)
Glad to see that this book got a good grade I've been wanting to read it for a while. I've been enjoying your blog for quite some time now and wanted to let you know I've blog awarded you. You can check it out here http://myneuroticbookaffair.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-lovely-blog-award.html
Have a great week, Shari
Oooooooooooo I need this. I've seriously been thinking of picking it up :)
I actually read this as a free read on HarperCollinsTeen.com when the second book was coming out. I loved it so much I ordered both it and book two as I knew I'd want to reread them when "Lies" came out. Generally, I pass on my YA books to a friend to use in her library at school but these I've held on to. Guess I'll just have to buy her another set.
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