Book Review: Gone by Michael Grant

Title: Gone

Author: Michael Grant

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release Date: January 1^st, 2008

Series: Gone #1

Source: Hardcover

Number of Pages: 558

Letter Size: Medium/Large

Synopsis:

In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young.

There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents--unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers--that grow stronger by the day. It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...

Review:

Sam Temple was sitting in his third period history class when his teacher just disappeared. Soon he finds out that every other teacher has disappeared too, along with a few students.  Freaked out, he and his friends race home only to discover that their parents are nowhere to be found. It soon becomes apparent that everyone over the age of 15 has disappeared. Confused, and not knowing what to do, the town kids turn to "School Bus Sam". When Sam was 13 he saved an entire school bus of kids by driving the bus when the driver had an heart attack. Sam is no one's hero and balks at becoming the leader of the town. He also has a secret to hide because for the last few years he has been able to produce lights from his hand. So Sam, along with his friends Quinn and Astrid go on a search to find answers. They find a barrier 20 mile wide. If you touch the barrier it feels like your skin is burning, though it leaves no physical damage. Returning back to town they find that the rich private school kids have installed themselves as leaders of the town. Their leader Caine promises peace and order but it soon becomes apparent that he has a hidden agenda.

Looking at this book you would probably feel quite intimated by it. It looks big and at 558 pages it's one of the longer young adults books that I have read. The book does lag at a few points but, given the size of the novel, it's understandable. There are a lot of characters and it can be hard to keep track of some of the minor ones. Since there are so many characters you find yourself not caring weather some of the minor characters live or die. I felt this was a disservice to some of the characters because they were all well written characters. There were just so many of them. Gone uses alternating points of view, and at times it can be hard to keep up with them. It switches back and forth between Sam and a number of other characters in the book. Since it's all ready hard to keep the characters straight, this just makes it even more confusing. 

Other than the points I mentioned above I found the book to be quite enjoyable. Michael Grant is one of the best authors at creating realistic characters.  It's not just the main characters, even the minor ones are in depth and realistic. He also accurently portrays how a teenager would act in a situation like this. First being happy that there is no one to tell them what to do, then starting to worry about loved ones, and finally full blown panic about what they're going to do. I felt that it was quite odd for the cut off line of disappearing to be at 15. Since, in my experience, high schoolers don't act like the responsible adults that people think they are. The book's plot gets you hooked in and you'll find yourself unable to put it down. Gone has many twists and turns that will leave you shocked and dying to know what happens next. While Gone did contain romance it never felt overbearing and it never once drove the plot. Overall I would say Gone was a pretty amazing book and it managed to make it's long length work for it.

Rating: 4/5 Stars