Book Review: Gone

So, I'd like to introduce Cassie, who will be reviewing books for us as well. Unfortunately we don't want others to send in book reviews, so it will just be me, JP, and Cassie.

Title- Gone
Author- Michael Grant
Rating- 9 out of 10 stars, or 4.5 out of 5, if you're using the 5 star system.
There are no "spoilers", per say, but character profiles and enough information so the reader gets the gist of things.

Gone, a novel by Michael Grant, is about fourteen year old Sam, who lives in the small town of Perdido Beach, California. He enjoys surfing, and is unexceptional in pretty much every way. One day, out of nowhere, everyone 15 and older disappears. This seems exciting at first, with the kids doing whatever they want, eating whatever they want, and living wherever they want. But what about the children? The babies? The story continues with some kids developing strange, unexplainabe powers, like the power to blast fire from one's hands. Chaos ensues, with Sam in the middle. Conflicts arise when Sam realizes there is no way out of the FAYZ (the term used to describe the area where all adults disappear) and they begin to run out of supplies. Then the Coates Academy (a private school across town) students come, and try to take over running the FAYZ, led by Cain, the intelligent, good looking fourteen year old with twisted plans for domination. The rest of the story unfolds with surprise after twist after "Whoa, did that just happen?!" moments, leaving the reader eager for the sequel, Hunger.

I can honestly say that Gone is one of the most though provoking and intense novels I have had the pleasure to read. Grant has set up the perfect dystopian society reminiscent of Lord of the Flies; children forced together for survival. The reader is hit with topics of good versus evil, power and the responsibility that comes with it, and the importance of leadership. As an avid reader of science fiction, I found Grant's style rich in detail while still letting the imagination stretch to it's limits. The graphic and often violent storyline is thankfully broken up by cal, slower moments, although these are few and far between, and don't even exist toward the end of the novel.

Grant paints a picture of humanity at it's best and worst, and many times the unthinkable. The goodness of the main characters is shadowed by the cruelty of the antagonists. Kindness is flooded with brutality. Charcters are forced to make life-altering choices and decide for themselves if they will do what is right or what is easy. Gone will keep you up at night, contemplating the nature of humanity. It will thrust your mind into a whirlwind of emotions, from sympathy to love to hatred to betrayal. And whether you like the book or not (and I can almost guarantee you will), it will make you look at human nature in a different light. That, to me, is one of the greatest things an author can accomplish, and Michael Grant did just that.